Zaid Ibrahim calls for open probe on Raja Petra and Bala

Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/7645-zaid-calls-for-open-probe-on-rpk-and-bala

6 Jul 2010 : PKR leader Zaid Ibrahim, accusing Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak of being afraid to face blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) and private eye P Balasubramaniam, has challenged the government to conduct an independent and open investigation to determine RPK's guilt and Balasubramaniam’s credibility.

He said he was sure the two would return to Malaysia to defend themselves if the government would guarantee their families’ safety and their immunity from detention under the Internal Security Act.

“The truth is that Najib is afraid of these two human beings,” he said in his latest posting on myzaidibrahim.wordpress.com under the title Comedy a la P. Ramlee, which is translated below:
“At first, we heard PM Najib saying he was confident the police would arrest Raja Petra; but the police have not done anything in 12 months. And Khairy (Jamaluddin) is right; Raja Petra is always seen in public in London and Manchester. Hundreds of Malaysians know this, and I have even met him. So don’t tell me the police don’t know. Impossible.

It is the same thing with Bala. He is in London too. Next week, he will go to Paris to meet French investigators.

But the Malaysian police are not interested in meeting these two. Why?

(Home) Minister Hishammuddin (Hussein), MP Zahrain (Mohamed Hashim) and Utusan Malaysia seem to be more interested in my friendship with Raja Petra. The question is: Why is there no action against Raja Petra if he has done wrong? Tell the public what wrong he has done. Has a warrant of arrest been issued against him? No, as far as I know. So, if Raja Petra has done nothing wrong, why can’t I watch a football match with him?

The truth is that PM Najib is afraid of these two human beings. That’s why they have had to put up an act. They had to say Raja Petra was in Brisbane, Australia, or wherever. In fact, they knew all along where Raja Petra was and where Bala was. The police even met Bala in Bangkok. But they keep playing dumb.

What the people want to know is why these two have not been openly investigated.
PM Najib said we must not believe Raja Petra; but we must not be too ready to believe PM Najib either.

So, let us have an independent and open investigation, with an assurance to the two men that they will not be detained under the ISA. I am sure they will return to Malaysia to defend the statements they have made. And if it is found that they are liars who have brought shame to the nation’s leader, then punish them. That would be the way a good reformist leader would act; he wouldn’t keep play acting and using the police and the press to cast aspersions on other people.

I have to stop here. Going to Holiday Villa London in an hour’s time to see Bala. Nothing important. It’s just that since the police and MACC are afraid to meet Bala and Petra, it’s now up to my friends and I to treat them to ice kacang.”