PKR leaders give statements to cops over Monday rally

SHAH ALAM: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, vice-president Azmin Ali, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and his aide Yahya Sahri gave their statements on a gathering on Monday to the police yesterday.

However, there was a temporary standoff between the two parties when the police officers said they would only record Khalid’s statement at his office while the rest were to go the Umno building nearby which houses the commercial crimes department.

Azmin said the state legal adviser initially told them that the statements of all four would be recorded at the state secretariat building.

Official business: (From left) Azmin, Azizah, Abdul Khalid and Yahya leaving the state secretariat building in Shah Alam Wednesday as they head towards the state police headquarters.

“But at the last minute the police asked us (Azmin, Azizah and Yahya) to give our statements at the Selangor Umno building.

“We refused to do so and after a long argument they agreed to allow us to give our statements at the state police headquarters,” he said.

Azmin said they had gathered at the state secretariat building from 9.30am as the police said they would be there at that time to record their statements over the PKR-organised rally on Monday night at the Sultan Sulaiman Club field in Kuala Lumpur.

He said all four of them had cooperated with the police and given their statements even though they still had not been provided with copies of the police report said to have been made against them over the April 14 rally.

Azmin said he was interviewed for about 30 minutes and, although they asked various questions regarding to the rally, the issue of PKR not having applied for a permit was not brought up.

“When Yahya met with the Kuala Lumpur police prior to the rally they only asked for details of the events during the function. The need for a permit was never raised,” he added.

Asked whether PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would be called to give a statement, Azmin said he did not want to speculate.

Abdul Khalid, when met outside his office at about 2.30pm, said police interviewed him for about 20 minutes but did not want to take the statements from the other three.

--THE STAR