KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The police denied today they were trying to expedite a “PKR man” detained in Indonesia who is said to be linked to a scandal involving a Selangor lawmaker.
Federal CID chief Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin told The Malaysian Insider that last week’s arrest of a man identified by the Indonesian media as “Azmin Helmi” was an Indonesian matter and not Malaysia’s concern at the moment.
He also said he could not confirm if the man was the same individual wanted to assist in a police probe into the scandal as the latter had been arrested with fake identification documents.
“If he’s deported then we will look into the possibility (that the man is the person whom we are looking for),” Mohd Bakri told The Malaysian Insider.
Kosmo reported today that the police have confirmed that Azmin, who was picked up in Batam on Friday, is the same man wanted for questioning in connection with a scandal involving a female Selangor assemblyman.
The Malay-language daily, quoting sources, said the police were working with their Indonesian counterparts to bring the man back to Malaysia to help with their investigations into the matter.
Azmin, who claims to be a PKR member, was detained by Indonesian authorities last Friday for allegedly possessing fake identification documents.
Indonesian online news portal Detik said the 36-year-old was picked up in Batam by immigration officers who became suspicious when he tried to renew his counterfeit passport.
The Selangor resident was also found holding a false Indonesian identity card and family card issued in Batam, as well as a fake birth certificate from the Karimun Regency.
Batam immigration authorities told the press that Azmin had entered Indonesia on a Malaysian passport via the Tanjung Balai international port in Karimun on February 15, 2009.
They said he had travelled all across Indonesia, visiting Pekanbaru, Jakarta and Timor Leste before settling down in the Cengkareng, Cingkawang and Pondok Kelapa districts, exceeding his 30-day visitor’s visa.
Azmin also claimed his stay in Jakarta had been funded by his family and PKR.
“I chose to stay in Indonesia even though my visa had ended because my family in Malaysia and the PKR leadership urged me to change in Indonesia,” he was said to have told immigration officers.
“My safety is not ensured in Malaysia as a result of threats made against me by Malaysian leaders who may use me as a pawn or political tool for the authorities.”
The Selangor government said yesterday it would study media reports of the alleged PKR member before deciding on the next course of action.
It added the matter would also be brought up at the PKR political bureau meeting tomorrow and that any decision will be announced to the public immediately.
