KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): The government will not allow any party to take the law into their own hands, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution.
“We do not allow any parties to take the law into their own hands. If that happens, what will happen to our country, our [legal] systems?”
He said this at a media engagement session with his ministry on Monday, when asked to comment on concerns raised about vigilante groups that had tracked down two private citizens who made comments about the ‘Allah’ socks controversy and forced the men to make confessions online.
Both of them have since been charged in court for insulting Islam, sentenced to jail and fined.
“So, we urge that no one take actions on your own. The police is the highest enforcement authority in the country, and only they have the authority to go after wrongdoers, they will do their duty,” he said.
Asked if the police will be doing anything about the vigilante groups, he only reiterated, “The highest enforcement authority is the police. They will do their duty.”
Over the weekend, human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) slammed the government and police for failing to take actions against these vigilante groups, as well as those who flamed the ‘Allah’ socks issue and instigated what it termed “an active ‘lynch-mob’ campaign against anyone who made comments on the issue which may be regarded as insensitive by vigilante-type groups”.
It also questioned if mob rule was now allowed in Malaysia, saying police were quick to act against those who made the online comments, but had taken no action against the vigilantes.