Police gave me wrong summons, claims driver

By ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my
Tuesday June 8, 2010

The people must report to the police if they felt that the police had acted beyond their powers, and the media must also not give prominence to the DAP for highlighting the people’s problem. 

- Tuan Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

A DRIVER who purportedly beat the traffic lights claimed that he was only stopped by police about 2km away from the point he allegedly committed the offence.

And when he was reluctant to produce his driving licence, the police officer who stopped him asked: “You mau main kasar? (Do you want to play rough?)”.

Motorist Chong Eng Jee, 28, said the incident happened on June 1 at around 11pm. He was driving past Jalan Datuk Merican Salleh to Jalan Kwong Lee Bank when he realised a Mobile Police Vehicle had been trailing him.

He claimed that he had driven “cautiously and made a U-turn at the Jalan Kwong Lee Bank junction to Lorong Sebor and headed towards Jalan Datuk Abdul Rahman Rahim”.

“At Jalan Datuk Abdul Rahman Rahim, the MPV stopped me and a policeman asked for my driving licence. When I was reluctant to show my licence because I felt I didn’t do anything wrong, the policeman threateningly asked me if “I was trying to play rough”. I was alone and there were two of them, so I gave them my licence,” he told reporters at the DAP headquarters in Kuching yesterday.

Chong said the policeman had issued a summons stating that he had beaten the red light at Jalan Kwong Lee Bank when he made the U-turn.

Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong who called a press conference to highlight the issue said if Chong was at fault, the MPV should have stopped the driver immediately instead of allowing him to drive another two kilometres until Jalan Datuk Abdul Rahman Rahim.

She said Chong was aware that the MPV was behind him and therefore he could not have broken traffic rules with the police watching him.

She said she would write to the police to cancel the summons.

On a separate matter, DAP state deputy publicity secretary Wong King Wei said Sarawak Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club chief Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah should not blame the party and media for highlighting a recent police brutality case in Serian.

Karim was referring to media reports on alleged police brutality involving a technician who only wished to be known as Lai following a road accident at KM85 Jalan Kuching-Sri Aman around 2pm last Friday.

Wong said Lai approached him because he was too frightened to lodge a police report by himself in Serian after he was allegedly attacked by a policeman.

“This obviously shows that the people have lost confidence in the police force and the government,” he said.

He said Karim as a member of the ruling government should come up with solutions to improve the police services instead of putting the blame on the media.

It was reported that Karim had said the people must report to the police if they felt that the police had acted beyond their powers, and the media must also not give prominence to the DAP for highlighting the people’s problem.