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Maria J.Dass, The Sun PETALING JAYA (May 9, 2008): DAP chairman Karpal Singh today said he stands by his earlier statement on the transfer of Peral Religious Department director Datuk Jamry Sury despite police reports lodged against him to cite him for sedition.
Instead, he accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who had instructed Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor to lodge a report against him, of "turning what is purely a legal issue, into a political one with racial undertones". He also said Abdullah was trying to "divert attention from his own shaky position as Prime Minister after calls from numerous Umno divisions that he should step down and take the challenge by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to take him on as Umno president in the coming Umno general assembly". He said Abdullah should have sought the Attorney-General Tan Sri Ghani Patail’s legal advice before publicly attacking him for questioning the prerogative of Perak Sultan Raja Azlan Shah as head of the state, "when I did not do so". He warned Abdullah and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak that he would take legal action against them if they continue making defamatory remarks against him. Karpal stressed that he had committed no offence and those those who had lodged reports against him should be prepared to face the consequences of lodging false reports. "Clearly what I have raised is a purely legal issue and I have in no way questioned the prerogative of the Perak Sultan as head of the religion of Islam in the state as guranteed in the Federal Constitution," said Karpal. "It has been, and it is my view that the Perak Sultan had no jurisdiction or power to direct the state government to reinstate Jamry who was a state government servant," he said, adding that he failed to see why there has been such an uproar over what is purely a legal issue that was backed by a Federal Court judgement and upheld by the Privy Council in London, until 1985 the highest court in Malaysia. On another matter, Karpal said his queries in Parliament about who prepared the King’s speech was in no way an intention to insult the King. "I raised the matter because if Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, who was moving the motion, had said it was the government, I wanted to raise a question on why Barisan Nasional fared badly in the polls, losing its two thirds majority, and absence of calls to repeal repressive laws in the speech," he said. Meanwhile, Bernama reported that nine police reports have been lodged against Karpal so far in connection with this matter. Sentul OCPD ACP Ahmad Sofian Md Yasin said two reports were lodged each in Sentul and Brickfields and one each in Dang Wangi, Tapah, Port Dickson, Muar and Penang. He said the reports were channelled to the Sentul police headquarters because the place where Karpal made the statement was within the Sentul police jurisdiction. The two reports in Sentul were from Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Malaysia Youth Council secretary-general Tajudin Ahmad. In Penang, state Umno youth secretary Ramlan Ishak, who lodged the report at the Jelutong police station, said Karpal's statement had created anxiety among the people. Last week, Sultan Azlan Shah ordered Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to retract the 24-hour transfer order issued to Jamry as the transfer was done without the consent of the Sultan as the head of Islamic religion.
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