YOURSAY 'Zahid's rhetorical question can be easily answered by a college student. The police force does not have a right to extrajudicial killing.'

'What about rights of cops and crime victims?'

Abasir: The fact that Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and his police underlings openly cavort with and encourage known gangsters must be the only reason for not wanting the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

An independent probe will unmask the whole bunch of crooks in uniform and the money trail will lead to the ring leaders of the regime.

Quigonbond: Zahid's rhetorical question can be easily answered by a college student. The police force does not have a right to extrajudicial killing. They have the right to better gear, better training and better salary, which are responsibilities of the government.

These can be done without taking away constitutional rights of Malaysians to a fair trial. Victims of crime have a right to a safe environment.

The environment is unsafe because the police have been compromised. There is every possibility that gun crimes skyrocketed after 44 police guns went missing.

The responsibility of ensuring that the force is independent, professional and incorruptible also lies with the government. And that too, only requires IPCMC and no political interference from ruling politicians.

On both counts, no changes to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) is justifiable. And Zahid appears to have so flippantly forgotten that those who are shot by police without due process are also victims of crime, albeit police crime. He needs to stop speaking.

James1067: The public will support the police if not only petty criminals are brought to justice but also the well-connected ones who rob the nation dry. Secondly, they will support the police if they are given an opportunity to surrender and brought to face justice.

Kee Thuan Chye: How can an event that bears the government's stamp through the logos of the federal and state governments on the backdrop be a closed-door event? Who is Minister in the PM's Department Shahidan Kassim trying to fool?

Would it be right for the government to fund an event that was closed? Or were the organisers using government funds to organise the event only for Umno members? Then that would constitute abuse of power. Government and party are distinct entities.

Onyourtoes: Zahid, who said the people are not concerned with the right of police and the victims of violence? Of course, we want the police to maintain law and order. Of course, we want criminals punished and the safety of the police protected.

But police are not triad kingpins. If police could operate like gangsters, executing and killing people without due process, then there will be no difference between the police and the secret societies. Are police "legalised" criminals?

To Shahidan, I just want to remind him that Zahid's speech has nothing to do with curbing crime but everything to do with inciting and influencing potential voters in the coming Umno party election.

Which is more unethical, Shahidan - a minister unleashing racial slurs at others or journalists reporting a supposedly closed-door event?

Did Zahid go to the event in Malacca as home minister or Umno vice-president candidate; did you go there as minister in PM's Department or candidate for the Umno supreme council?

I believe you are not talking crap; I believe you are seriously handicapped.

Hello: Shahidan claimed that the meeting is a closed-door affair and should not be reported on. Does he mean that within a closed-door meeting parties can promote sedition, rebellion, initiating crime and murders?

Why is it that this blatant promotion of racism, sedition, calling for murders of suspect gangsters by the home minister without being investigated and prosecuted, but any other persons unconnected to Umno will be prosecuted immediately with a lot of fanfare, especially if he or she is a non-Malay.

Tholu: Unethical to report on a closed-door proceedings but no unethical to make racist comments and threatening reporters, is it, Shahidan?

And can you please clarify, if you have any ethics, which part of Zahid's speech was 'twisted' or as Zahid would have put it, 'spun.'

Magnus: The public have a right to know and understand the true character of their elected officials, full stop.

If you want to be in politics, then be prepared to be watched, particularly if you are stupid enough to make inappropriate or unacceptable comments and statements, whether officially, off-the-cuff, in private or in public.

If you don't like that, then behave properly or get out of politics altogether and be an ordinary citizen.

LogicalMalaysian: By all means, go/get criminals but the home minister and the police cannot decide what punishment should be meted out. That is the job of our legal system, including the courts.

I am surprised that a home minister no less, can behave like a thug. The police can only use the gun for "defensive" purposes. The underlying character and behaviour reminds be of how Hitler catapulted to power.

Shahidan's feeble attempt to ride this out as being unethical to report a closed-door event in itself is unethical. The mask has worn off and the true racists have been paraded in public.

When former Malacca CM Ali Rustam loses in a Malay-majority constituency but has the cheek to blame the Chinese for "sliding into the well", and when Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali, the champion of Ketuanan Melayu loses in a predominantly Malay area but has the cheek to remind us about May 13 "forever", and when PM Najib Razak boasts about his moderate views the world over, the sum of it all is the racist party is desperate and knows that its grip on power is slipping through its fingers.

Joker: Does the absence of the Emergency Ordinance (EO), Internal Security Act (ISA), Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) equal the absence of police and crime victims' rights? The police's job is to investigate and to arrest someone when there is sufficient evidence.

The victim has a right to demand the police to do their job well and catch the real criminal so that the crime will not be repeated. If the police catches the wrong criminal (which could well be case if the police forcibly arrest someone without evidence) then the real criminal is free to commit another crime.

The courts and lawyers have the right to defend/prosecute a suspect but if everyone is arrested under the PCA, what will the judges and lawyers do? They will be out of a job. Malaysians have the right to question if their representatives blindly vote for laws that are unconstitutional.

Choysuk: Still no responses from the top? I'm beginning to believe that they must be deaf and blind.

Home minister shoots his mouth off again

Shoot-to-kill policy forces criminals to shoot first

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