M Kulasegaran said the IGP should be more forthright over the claims he had made last week regarding the refusal of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to allow the Better Beer Festival 2017 to be held at the Publika mall on Oct 6-7.
“Merely saying that threats from religious extremists factored in the cancellation of the event is not enough,” he said in a statement today.
“I urge the police to be more open and forthright, and not content themselves with inexplicable justifications that invite more questions than provide answers,” Kula said, adding that threats from terrorists and extremists are no small matter.
On Sept 21, the IGP released a statement saying that Bukit Aman had received intelligence indicating that a militant group was planning to sabotage the beer fest.
“We also received information that a few parties planned to cause trouble during the event, and that it might also turn into a serious security matter,” Fuzi was quoted as saying, adding that the police had to be proactive in objecting to the festival on the grounds of preventing any untoward incidents.
Kula, who is also DAP national vice-chairman, said while some information must necessarily be kept secret, this should not be the case when they involve apparent threats to events that are considered normal.
“The public wants to know if suspects had been detained in connection with the threat against the Better Beer Festival, and are charges being mulled against them?
“The public has a right to know as otherwise they will think that the police force is being used to further the agenda of certain political interests of opponents of the Better Beer Festival,” he said.
The Ipoh Barat MP said combating any threat from terrorism also requires public awareness and vigilance.
“Hence, the threat from terrorism cannot be contained within an environment denuded of clarifying information and the cooperation of an aware public.
“Would future threats to events such as the annual Merdeka Day parade result in cancellation by the authorities? And that, too, without adequate explanation?” he asked.
Kula also questioned Fuzi over his recent award from the Singapore government, asking if the IGP was unwilling to apply the same merits for which he gained the recognition to his work in Malaysia.
“I would like to congratulate Fuzi on being awarded Singapore’s top award, the Meritorious Service Medal. The republic said the award was for reasons of ‘substantive intelligence exchanges and extensive cooperation in areas of mutual security interest, particularly against the terrorism threat’.
“Presumably, these exchanges took place when the IGP was Special Branch head, a post he held before his recent promotion to IGP.
“So, it is rather puzzling that he doesn’t do likewise when it comes to sharing information with the Malaysian public about the terrorism threat,” he said.