Opposition party PKR today questioned if Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the first to send a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 23, 2015. Following denials by two former home ministers, PKR today questioned if the incumbent minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was the first to unilaterally write to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said Zahid should explain the procedure for a minister to write to another agency."Is there a standard operating procedure for cabinet ministers to write letters to any agency or organisation on the advice of lawyers who are not the Attorney-General?" Fahmi said in a statement today.Zahid has been embroiled in controversy ever since the South China Morning Post reported that he had sent a letter to FBI deputy director Mark F. Guiliano last December to clear gambling kingpin Paul Phua of triad involvement.Paul was detained in Las Vegas last year in connection with illegal gambling along with his son and is facing charges in a US court.But in his letter, Zahid said Phua had assisted Putrajaya with matters concerning national security.Since the matter came to light, Zahid has been criticised for acting unilaterally without first consulting the police or the Attorney-General's Chambers.When Zahid finally broke his silence on the issue, he said sending the letter was well within his authority, adding that his predecessors had done the same.But, former Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein denied writing such correspondence to the FBI during his tenure between 2009 and 2013.Hishammuddin's denial prompted veteran DAP politician Lim Kit Siang to question if Zahid was lying.Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, who was home minister from 2008 to 2009, also denied sending letters unilaterally to the FBI today.Zahid has refused to reveal how Phua had assisted Putrajaya on issues of national security, invoking the Official Secrets Act 1972. – January 23, 2014.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น