Malaysian official defends police stripping of woman
Malaysia’s deputy police minister appeared to defend the stripping of a Chinese woman in custody, saying foreigners should “go back to their own country” if they think police there behaved maliciously.
The opposition today condemned the remark as an outrage.
Deputy internal security minister Noh Omar yesterday told Malaysian media he believed police had not flouted procedure in making a Chinese woman strip and perform squats in a lock-up.
A video of the incident made public last week has sparked a national scandal.
“If the foreigners think we are cruel, ask them to go back to their own country,” Noh said. “For me, it was conducted in accordance with the rules.”
Lim Kit Siang, the opposition leader in Parliament, today urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to suspend Noh and instruct him to apologise for his remark.
The Malay Mail newspaper said Noh made the comments when he “lost his cool after repeated badgering” by journalists in parliament over the issue.
“Noh’s response drew disbelief from the media,” the newspaper reported.
