Cops quiz Selangor MB, Wan Azizah and PKR officials

(The Sun) SHAH ALAM (April 16, 2008): Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, his personal assistant and two other Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) supreme members were questioned by police today over the Black 14 mass gathering by the party in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (April 14).
While Khalid was given the privilege of being questioned by police in the comforts of his office, his personal assistant Yahya Sahri, PKR president Datin Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Ulu Kelang MP Azmin Ali were ordered to head to the Selangor police headquarters by a team of policemen.
The four had waited for police in Khalid's office as early as 10am following their defiance to have their statement recorded in the Dang Wangi police station where they were ordered to turn up on Monday although police insisted they do so or face arrest.
After uncertainities over where they will be questioned today, KL police finally gave in to their demands and at 1.15pm, an inspector and two plainclothes policemen turned up in the Mentri Besar's office and for the next 30 minutes questioned Khalid over the gathering.
At 2.15pm, he accompanied Azizah, Azmin and Yahaya to the Selangor police headquarters opposite the state secretariat's building.
Khalid left for his office five minutes later and the three others were taken to separate rooms where they were questioned for approximately 30 minutes by police officers but only stepped out at about 3.30pm.
Surrounded by reporters at the entrance of the building, they said that they were asked questions related to the gathering and had given full cooperation to the police.
"We had to wait for hours since morning to get the police to do this. I don't see why they cannot record our statements in the MB's office. Initially just now, they had suggested we head to the Umno building nearby to do these sessions. Why should we go to the Umno building," said Azmin who is also a close confidante of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said he was puzzled why police are now saying the gathering needed a police permit when it was never brought up in a meeting with them held on Friday (April 11).
He said according to Yahya who attended the meeting, the police had only spoken about the event and how to manage the traffic and crowd.
Azmin said the police had also asked for a detailed itinerary of the event and was also told that Anwar will be one of the speakers.
"Anwar is the host of the event, it is obvious he will give a speech. In the list of speakers we gave the police, Anwar's name is clearly sated and we did have a dinner function among us. We also do not want the event to be referred to as the Black 14 as it was not. The gathering was held as a mark to appreciate the contribution of the rakyat in bringing victory to the coalition," said Azmin, adding that more of such functions will be held while abiding all rules and regulations at the Selangor-owned Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kg. Baru, KL.
Azizah, when asked if she felt it was political harrassment for the police to call them up, said there was definately disparity in the way they handled the situation.
"Compared to the BN (Barisan Nasional) or Umno it looks like we got more attention from the police," she said, adding that the officers did not say if they will be called up again or what will the next course of action to be taken against them.
Earlier, at an event in the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, city police chief DCP Datuk Mohd Sabtu Osman said the organisers of the gathering had lied to police when they claimed they had told police Anwar would be going on stage to address the crowd and that police had not advised them to apply for a permit.
"If they insist on saying that they had told us, then it is a lie. It is a lie. They are twisting and turning the whole thing. That is all I can say" he said.
He said police are merely acting within the provisions of law when summoning the four who refused to turn up at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.
"We called them in and not the other way around but they insist we do it where they want. So we agreed with IPK Selangor," he said.