The authority to initiate investigations based on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) recommendations on Batu Puteh lies with the Attorney General as an independent entity, not the government, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Wrapping up the debate on the RCI report in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Dec 12), the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) explained that the report was tabled in Parliament to gather feedback from MPs, enabling the government to address and rectify any weaknesses identified.
Regarding the redacted sections, Azalina clarified that they contained sensitive information, including details of ongoing negotiations between Malaysia and Singapore.
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Wrapping up the debate on the RCI report in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Dec 12), the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) explained that the report was tabled in Parliament to gather feedback from MPs, enabling the government to address and rectify any weaknesses identified.
Regarding the redacted sections, Azalina clarified that they contained sensitive information, including details of ongoing negotiations between Malaysia and Singapore.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/438arh74
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00I listened carefully to all the speeches, including the screams and full of emotions by our friends.
00:12And I would like to express my gratitude as a son of Johor, to all of you from Johor.
00:18If we look at page 31, we can see the picture.
00:22Johor people say picture.
00:25We don't say picture, we say picture.
00:27This white stone picture, Tansri.
00:29This white stone is close to Pengerang.
00:32But that's Singapore's.
00:34The middle rock is far from Pengerang.
00:37That's Malaysia's.
00:39So, Tansri is right.
00:41Actually, our purpose today is to refer to something very important,
00:47which I understand.
00:53But actually, we look more at what was said by Suranjaya, which is page 204.
01:03What is very important here, in our discussion,
01:07is that we give views and suggestions,
01:10so that the government can make a decision,
01:13and from the suggestions and views, to improve the weaknesses that have occurred.
01:19The issue of whether to accuse or not, is the issue of the court.
01:24Not the issue of the government.
01:26In the institution, we all know that the court is a free individual.
01:32If there is a police report, the police will investigate,
01:36and then the court will make a decision.
01:39If there is no police report until today,
01:41then how can we, in the court,
01:43direct the police to investigate,
01:45or ask the court to make a decision?
01:47How can we do that?
01:49What I don't understand is,
01:51what you are saying,
01:53you don't want to read this book.
01:57Tansri, they have said it.
01:59Tansri, let me answer.
02:01If it's like this, then I don't have to answer.
02:03What is this?
02:05Let me answer.
02:07Sit down, Arau.
02:09Relax, Arau.
02:11Let me answer.
02:13Arau.
02:15I know, Arau.
02:17It's almost time.
02:19It's Friday, everyone is going home.
02:21Let me answer.
02:22How many minutes left?
02:237 minutes more?
02:24Let me answer.
02:25What's wrong with you?
02:29I've answered.
02:31Enough, sit down.
02:32Thank you, Arau.
02:33If it's like this, Tansri.
02:35Let me answer.
02:37Arau.
02:39Tansri is right.
02:41When we look at the most important thing
02:43in page 204,
02:45he said,
02:47in paragraph 4.9,
02:49if you want to make a decision
02:51about any cabinet decision,
02:53you have to go through the ministerial memorandum.
02:55That's what the RCI said.
02:57It's not discussed in other things.
02:59That's the first thing.
03:01Secondly, he said here,
03:03in page 206,
03:05he said,
03:29That means,
03:31the RCI stated that
03:33the government must follow
03:35the existing procedures and SOPs.
03:37That means,
03:39in our case,
03:41what happens
03:43is that
03:45on this date,
03:4721 May,
03:49we all discussed in the cabinet meeting,
03:51many of the cabinet members were silent.
03:53That's his decision.
03:55I understand and I heard it.
03:57But what we must remember
03:59and don't forget,
04:01before the cabinet meeting,
04:03the letter was sent to Singapore.
04:05His lawyer.
04:07The lawyer of Singapore.
04:09Even though
04:11the letter was sent
04:13to talk about Michael Shaw,
04:15I agree with it.
04:17But we must correct it
04:19so that the decisions
04:21about the government
04:23were discussed in the cabinet meeting
04:25before the decision was made.
04:27That's all.
04:29So we must remember
04:31in the upcoming lectures,
04:33like what I said in this session
04:35about the national head office,
04:37in the issue of
04:39governance,
04:41we also mentioned in page 206
04:43that the lead agency
04:45is the National Security Council.
04:47At least,
04:49MKM came to the cabinet meeting
04:51to inform the cabinet members.
04:53That's all. This is what was stated.
04:55What was stated in this
04:57letter is to correct
04:59the situation that has happened
05:01so that the same thing won't happen.
05:03I have 4 minutes left.
05:05Wait, half a minute.
05:07Do you want to answer or not?
05:09I don't want to answer.
05:11I don't want to answer.
05:13It's okay, I want to answer.
05:15I want to answer.
05:17I want to answer
05:19about the issue
05:21that was raised
05:23in page 40.
05:25I want to answer
05:27about the issue
05:29that was raised in page 40.
05:31I want to answer
05:33about the issue
05:35that was raised
05:37in page 40
05:39due to concerns
05:41about the risk of national security,
05:43sensitive diplomatic relations,
05:45and individual privacy protection.
05:47There is a report in Raja Indonesia
05:49that was released to the public
05:51that will investigate the national security
05:53where certain information
05:55in this report is sensitive
05:57including protection,
05:59surveillance, and other strategic matters.
06:01In terms of diplomatic sensitivities,
06:03the Batu Putih Flooding Area
06:05is a regional sea
06:07that is still
06:09a dispute between
06:11Malaysia and Singapore.
06:13In addition, this report contains
06:15sensitive information
06:17about the ongoing negotiations
06:19between the two countries
06:21that may affect
06:23the relationship in the future.
06:25In terms of privacy protection,
06:27this report contains
06:29sensitive information
06:31about individuals, officials,
06:33and private witnesses.
06:35The report was made
06:37to ensure that
06:39the report that was released
06:41does not cause air pollution
06:43in terms of politics, diplomatic,
06:45or national security,
06:47as well as to ensure
06:49the protection of sensitive information.
06:51That is the significance of the report.
06:53Your Honour,
06:55who ordered this to be blacklisted?
06:57The government or Suruan Jaya?
06:59It was blacklisted by the government
07:01because we wanted to bring it to the public.
07:03Okay, I want to know the answer.
07:05That is the reason,
07:07but in the government's decision-making,
07:09of course Suruan Jaya
07:11will provide
07:13guidance to the government.
07:15Because when Suruan Jaya released the report,
07:17I said in the report
07:19that the officials
07:21went to the Cabinet meeting
07:23to discuss
07:25their decision
07:27and what they learned
07:29from the King's investigation.
07:31So the Cabinet agreed to lift
07:33the secret category
07:35to be opened and discussed
07:37in the Parliament,
07:39as we have been doing since recently.
07:41The Select Committee has been discussed,
07:43the Head of State Audit has been discussed,
07:45both parties
07:47have been able to listen,
07:49discuss, and propose.
07:51Your Honour, does Dr Mahdi Berhad know
07:53that this was blacklisted?
07:55Does Dr Mahdi Berhad know
07:57that this was blacklisted?
07:59As someone who was accused.
08:01Your Honour,
08:03I am not in the court.
08:05I cannot say
08:07whether this person knows or not.
08:09If it is open, if he wants to read it, read it.
08:11If he doesn't want to read it, he doesn't want to read it.
08:13What is important, we must accept
08:15the fact that
08:17when it comes to the report,
08:19the Cabinet Minister
08:21is not in the report.
08:23The one who is in the report
08:25is the free body appointed
08:27by Mr Agong.
08:29They went to the Cabinet meeting
08:31to discuss their decision.
08:33And in the discussion,
08:35any issue about security
08:37and secrecy will be discussed.
08:39So I want to answer another issue
08:41because Your Honour talked a lot
08:43about the issue of crime.
08:45I want to answer that.
08:47This is the last time,
08:49Your Honour,
08:51such as Putrajaya,
08:53Larut, Ketua Bahru,
08:55the Cabinet Minister
08:57during the time of the 9th Prime Minister.
08:59If we refer to the RCI report,
09:01for the first time,
09:03from the front page,
09:05I hope that Your Honour
09:07who was once a minister
09:09will not forget
09:11that in page 3,
09:134, 5,
09:15it states that
09:17on 8 October 2021,
09:19the Cabinet agreed
09:21that the Special Task Force
09:23should be re-established
09:25in accordance with
09:27Batu Putih, Middle Rock, South Sledge.
09:29Then on 23 May 2008,
09:31the decision was made by
09:33ICJ.
09:35Then in the Cabinet meeting on 22 December 2021,
09:37the Cabinet also agreed
09:39to appoint
09:41Tansi Datuk Seri Muhammad Effendi
09:43bin Haji Muhammad Ali
09:45as the head of the Special Task Force.
09:47The report of the Special Task Force
09:49means that
09:51Your Honour,
09:53they agreed,
09:55but the difference is
09:57that until today,
09:59they still...
10:01Wait a minute.
10:03They agreed that
10:05this report should not be kept secret.
10:07But the government
10:09wants
10:11this report not to be kept secret.
10:13It's the same thing.
10:15The difference is
10:17for the government,
10:19we want the people
10:21to know what happened
10:23to the people of Johor for the first time.
10:25The fishermen
10:27who were looking for fish
10:29were chased away
10:31by the government
10:33of the Singapore Maritime Commission.
10:35They can't even catch fish.
10:37The task force that they made
10:39got the decision, but they didn't want to tell.
10:41We made the RCI,
10:43we got the decision, we told.
10:45We voted.
10:47How could that be wrong?
10:49It's the same thing.
10:51The difference is the character,
10:53the form.
10:55Your Honour,
10:57I don't want to answer.
10:59Your Honour,
11:01Your Honour,
11:03I, because he mentioned
11:05the former minister
11:07who made the decision,
11:09I inform
11:11that the decision
11:13that he made,
11:15Your Honour, according to the 12-1
11:17meeting regulations,
11:19without ignoring the previous agreement,
11:21I request that the meeting
11:23be postponed today and after that,
11:25the meeting will be postponed
11:27until a date
11:29is set.
11:31Your Honour, I want...
11:33Your Honour,
11:35before that,
11:37Your Honour,
11:39Your Honour,
11:43There is no decision.
11:45Your Honour,
11:47Your Honour,
11:49Your Honour,
11:51Your Honour,
11:53Your Honour,
11:55Your Honour,
11:57Your Honour,
11:59Your Honour,
12:01Your Honour,