(Petaling Jaya, Saturday): The
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim’s
statement about various police irregularities and illegalities
in the Ops Warta II operation to track down outstanding traffic summonses
is welcome although long overdue.
The Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday
should issue a clear directive to the police not to take the law into its own
hand in the Ops Warta II operation, to
be fully mindful of the rule of law and not to turn the country upsidedown
into a police state, with police
manning road blocks at strategic places creating or aggravating traffic
congestions, mount house-to-house searches, stage ambushes at public car-parks
to be followed by arrest-and-handcuff-on-sight operations – which violate the
law, create panic, undermine public
confidence in the institutions of government and
give the country a bad international image.
Yesterday,
Rais said that motorists need not have to check with the police whether
they have committed any traffic offence as it is the responsibility of the
police to serve offenders with summonses. He also said that the Road Transport
Ordinance (RTO) had to be amended first before police could say that traffic
offenders were “deemed” to have received notification that they have
received summonses.
Rais’
statement is probably the government response to the call by
the DAP Deputy Chairman, Karpal Singh two days ago on the
Attorney-General Datuk Abdul Gani Patail to clarify the legality of the police
actions, stressing that the traffic summonses have to be served personally or by
the legally-provided substitute service, warning that the government could have
multi-million ringgit suits on its hands for unlawful harassment of motorists
for the 3.3 million outstanding traffic summonses.
The
Cabinet should give a categorical assurance on Wednesday that the police would
not be allowed to turn the country upsidedown into a police state with
road-blocks, house-to-house searches, ambushes at public carparks and arrest-and-handcuff-on-sight
operations.
The
Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai should
have a dialogue with political parties, consumer groups, trade unions,
the Bar Council and other interested NGOs to devise a
satisfactory formula to effect the settlement of the
outstanding three million traffic summons without trampling on the rule
of law or turning the country upside-down into a police state with the police
taking the law into its own hands.
(4/5/2002)