INSPECTOR-GENERAL of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani must order a stop to the ongoing investigation into critics of Kedah Menteri Besar Mohammad Sanusi Md Nor, veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said police were denying people their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, after detaining four men including a senior citizen, for allegedly insulting the PAS leader.

“Police should not misuse their powers by trampling on the constitutional rights of Malaysians to freedom of speech and expression.

“Their swift and draconian actions have shocked and revolted Malaysians and it is about time the IGP intervene and be mindful of the image the police want to project,” said the DAP lawmaker.

Sanusi has been criticised and called “stupid” after making a remark about containers being used as temporary morgues to store dead Covid-19 patients. He “invited” reporters who wanted to volunteer to go into these containers to give their names.

On Monday, a 61-year-old senior citizen was picked up at his home in Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan, on suspicion of making hurtful comments about Sanusi in a nine-minute-long video posted on Facebook.

Yesterday, police detained two men, a 52-year-old private employee and a 45-year-old trader in Kepala Batas and Mergong Perdana, Kota Setar, at 5.15pm and 6pm also for criticising Sanusi.

Police said the case was being investigated under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955, Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

The fourth person to be detained was a 25-year-old information technology analyst, who was arrested in Aulong, Taiping, last night and brought to Sg Petani for questioning.

Lim said Acryl’s should intervene and be “mindful of the image police want to project – that police are friends and protectors of citizens and not officialdom and that Malaysia is not a police state.”

He added that Sanusi had legal recourse by taking civil action to clear his name.

“This is as police action on the Kedah menteri besar’s rash and unwise remarks could only undermine public trust and police image,” Lim said.

Sanusi has since apologised for making insensitive remarks.

One of his aides however, is reported to have lodged multiple police reports against those allegedly insulting the Kedah menteri besar.

Commenting on the same issue earlier today, Penang Deputy Chief Minister ll P. Ramasamy said police should not be wasting their time arresting people for criticising Sanusi over his insensitive joke.

“Police have more important things to do rather than wasting their manpower and financial resources to go after the critics of Sanusi.

“He is not worth protecting at all. He is a burden on the political system,” Ramasamy in a statement. – August 11, 2021.