Ah.. no, no this isn’t a cover up, this is about attacking targets of their choosing. Instead of prosecuting the policewoman in that infamous video clip, the Police are going after the person who took the video clip. It’s all over the Star.

Who shot the scenes? This is the crux of police investigations into the controversial video clip showing a naked Chinese woman doing ear squats while in police custody.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan said whoever took the video clip - whether from the force or a civilian – would be charged under the Penal Code with insulting the modesty of a person or intruding into the privacy of a woman.


Now that we’ve removed every shred of doubt that we’re living in a Police state, ISA or no, let’s see what all this means. Firstly, it’s a contravention of PM Abdullah and Najib’s declarations on separate occassions that there will be no cover up, and it thumbs its nose in Najib’s direction, because basically, he has said no one deserves to be humiliated like lokapgal.

So, what’s happening here? Defiance? My current understanding is, these strip searches are humiliating and an abuse of a person’s human rights. Do you think it ends with strip searches? I invite you to question former prisoners and inmates on what happens when you first step into prison. Oh, yes, there are searches, and there will be humiliation in the form of corporal punishment. Designed to humiliate and belittle you, to establish which is the dominant party in prison. The same follows for persons under suspicion of either carrying weapons or drugs: the punishment is meant to show the person who’s boss.

Does this seem fair? Well, when did fairness ever come into the picture? The point, the Police will tell us, is this is necessary to safeguard Police against suspects who could be carrying weapons, or to detect drugs/items hidden on a suspect’s body.

Yeah, but the question is, where do you draw the line between a routine search and abuse? Just like with the use of guns and such, we allow - yes, the citizenry allow - police to bear arms on the assumption that these police will exercise responsibility, maturity and have some integrity in the use of brute force. The same follows for all powers conferred onto them. The problem is with this incident, as with so many other unreported incidents, the Police do not appear to have the necessary integrity, forbearance and sense of responsibility to be our so-called guardians.

Just ask any homeowner who’s ever had to suffer a break-in or robbery: you are treated like shit and with suspicion, sometimes you will have to beg the Police to come over to the scene of the crime, and then sometimes you’re extorted into paying for their “services”, which might or might not include a dust-down for prints or photographs of the scene.

My point is, there doesn’t seem to be any sign that the Police are trustworthy in the first place. And just what does Deputy IGP Musa’s declaration announce? It announces that our perceptions about the Police are spot on.

Does this mean I condone the filming of the video clip? No, because condoning this would force me, without qualifications, to condone the invasion of an innocent party’s privacy several steps down that line of thought. But this isn’t under consideration here. This is what’s under consideration:

“It is the perpetrator behind the video clip whom we are after and not the policewoman, who was carrying out a routine check,” said Musa.

Your move, PM Abdullah.