KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — DAP’s Tony Pua said that he had fully cooperated with the police after he was summoned to Bukit Aman today following his remarks on the Pardons Board’s recent decision to halve the sentence of convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
News portal The Star today reported that Pua arrived at Bukit Aman at 12:50pm but only entered at 1.13pm and later left around 2.30pm accompanied by his lawyer Haijan Omar.
“I was asked to give a statement pertaining to a sedition investigation in connection with five Facebook posts that I made.
“I gave full cooperation to the police,” he was quoted as saying.
Pua, who denies any seditious elements in his Facebook posts, expressed his commitment to the investigation.
“We hope the police will conduct a thorough and prompt investigation.
“I will hand over my laptop to the police later as I used it to upload the Facebook posts and I will also hand over access to my Facebook account,” he was quoted as saying
According to the news portal, the Special Investigation Unit oversees the ongoing investigations.
Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the police had opened an investigation into comments that Pua shared via Facebook as they are deemed as inciting the public to despise the royal institution when the decision was the Agong’s prerogative to make under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
He said that Pua is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Najib had initially received a 12-year sentence and a RM210 million fine for abuse of power, breach of trust, and money laundering related to RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
In the official statement on behalf of the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division as the board’s secretariat said the decision was made following a January 29 meeting of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
It said the Pardons Board meeting, which was chaired by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had considered five pardons applications, including the one from Najib.
Under the Federal Constitution, the Agong chairs the meetings of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories, which comprises the attorney general, the Federal Territories minister, and a maximum of three other members appointed by the Agong.
