MOHAMAD Sabu’s comments on the Bukit Kepong incident may haunt the Amanah president as he begins his tenure as defence minister, said Mingguan Malaysia. 

In a commentary by Awang Selamat, the weekend edition of the Umno newspaper said Mohamad was perceived as a communist sympathiser, although the court has cleared him of that charge.

“The generals and senior officers of the military may soon have to salute a man coloured by several controversies. This including sympathising with the communist fighters, an act which would not go down well with the nation’s security forces,” said Awang Selamat.

The newspaper however, added: “Give a chance to Mat Sabu and let us assess later. Who knows, he may become a great defence minister.”

On July 8, 2015, the George Town Sessions Court acquitted Mohamad of defamation charges over remarks about the 1950 Bukit Kepong incident.

Mohamad had said that 200 Malayan Communist Party (CPM) soldiers who had besieged an isolated police station in Johor deserved to be called national heroes as their fight was against British colonialists. He had also called local police officers who fought to their deaths defending the police station “British officers”.

At least 25 people died in that siege, mostly police officers. – May 13, 2018.