Voon decries attempts by police to ‘clamp down’ on politicians after being called in to give statement

Voon Lee Shan

KUCHING, May 19: The attempts by the police to clamp down on politicians and activists who are doing their work in accordance to the law in Sarawak is akin to a volcano waiting to erupt, claims Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.

Some 20 party members including Voon were called by officers claiming to be from the police Special Branch (SB) to interview them on their political activities.

Calling it a shocking first time incident, Voon, who is a veteran politician for over 20 years and former police officer, said he has never heard of SB calling so many people from one political party or organisation to interview them.

“There is no law in Malaysia for the police to call any citizen for an interview just to dig up their personal activities or to know them better. They can only call the citizens to assist them with an investigation into a crime, nothing else.

“I had been following Malaysian politics since my school days and been involved in active politics for more than 20 years. This is the first time and it is shocking,” Voon said in a statement.

Calling his PBK members law abiding citizens, Voon, who is also a lawyer, opines that they are good Christians, Buddhist and Muslims with strong faith as well.

He added that about 62 percent of Sarawakians are Christians and mostly are Dayaks who are following the party’s activities.

“Sarawakians, especially those in the rural areas are now unhappy when they came to know many party members received calls from people claiming to be from SB. If these were from the police, it is bad because the public are against the use of police to clamp down on politicians and activists who are doing their work according to the law. This is a volcano waiting to erupt in Sarawak.

“There are too many crimes that remained unsolved and we urged the police to do what they should do for the good of the nation,” Voon said.

This morning, Voon was called by the police to give a statement of crime under the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act.

He said this was in connection with PBK’s vision to set Sarawak “free and independent” from the federation of Malaysia.

Voon urged Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and all Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) supporters to give their support to PBK to realise this dream.

Since Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP) are Malayan based, he also hoped that their supporters will turn against these parties in support of PBK. — DayakDaily