HOME Minister Hamzah Zainudin has admitted that it is his voice in a recent widely shared audio clip on the appointment of Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani to inspector-general of police.

Hamzah said he did nothing wrong in speaking to another man on the phone whom he described as a “very important person”.

“It was me on the phone but I did not break any law. The person who taped my phone call is the one who broke the law. Not me,” he said.

“I was telling the person, who is an important person, that the IGP (Abdul Hamid Bador) needs to give me the names of (his replacement) candidates,” Hamzah said at a press conference this morning after giving the new IGP his appointment letter.

The audio clip has made the rounds on the internet.

In the clip, the man could be heard saying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would like Acryl to be the new IGP.

Without naming Hamid, the voice in the audio said the current IGP could not be choose his successor but could name the candidates to replace him.

Below is the transcript of the conversation between Hamzah and an identified man in which they spoke about recommending Acryl for the job.

Hamzah: “Nak tak kalau I bagi orang kita, kena naik pangkat dia…” (Would you like me to give it to our man, we’ll have to promote him)

Man: “Hmmm…”

Hamzah: “And dia memang orang Perak, dia budak Ipoh apa semua, very good. Memang Tuanku akan suka dialah. I’m now chairman of Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Polis. Kalau Tuanku kata okay, lagi bagus, because dia budak kita, budak Perak, family semua kat sana…” (And he’s from Perak, he’s an Ipoh boy, very good. Tuanku will definitely like him. I’m now the Police Service Commission chief. If Tuanku says okay, that’s even better, because he’s our boy, Perak boy, his whole family’s there.)

Man: “Okay.”

Hamzah: “Then it will be good for us. Because that’s why I will choose yang I know la siapa yang Tuanku okay apa semua… Now kita nak letak pengarah-pengarah because I’ve taken over. I’ve told him I said that you tak boleh ada choice, you hanya boleh bagi nama-nama. Katalah aku (tidak jelas) lima orang. You let me know, we will decide.” (Then it will be good for us. Because that’s why I’ll choose the one I know who Tuanku will be okay with…. Now we have to place the directors because I’ve taken over. I’ve told him that you can’t have the choice, you can only give the names. I say (audio unclear) five people. You let me know, we will decide.)

Man: “Hmm.”

Hamzah: “Not for you to decide anymore like before. All the ketua polis negeri dia tak boleh decide.” (Not for you to decide anymore like before. All the state police chiefs, he may not decide.) – April 30, 2021.