KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur High Court decided three years ago that there was no need for PAS volunteer corps Unit Amal to register with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), a party leader said yesterday in response to a warning from Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of a possible police crackdown.

PAS Youth legal and human rights director Noorazmir Zakaria said the issue could have been raised again by Ahmad Zahid due to political interests.

“Three years ago, I personally handled the case in connection with an Abolish the ISA movement where several Unit Amal members were charged in court,” he said.

“They were arrested and then charged at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court. However, the defence managed to get the case struck out at the prosecution stage,” said Noorazmir.

“The prosecutor then failed to prove that PAS Unit Amal needed to be registered with the Registrar of Societies,” Noorazmir said.

“Therefore, any attempt to bring this case to the courts again will be blocked on precedent,” he told a press conference at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said: “[Ahmad] Zahid is attempting to link Unit Amal with the Penang Voluntary Patrol squad [PPS] to save his position as home minister.

“[Ahmad] Zahid appears to have lost the confidence of Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.”

Mahfuz said while Ahmad Zahid managed to retain his position in the last Cabinet reshuffle in June, other BN component parties have been unhappy with his hard stance on racial issues.

“The racist streak displayed by [Ahmad] Zahid in many statements previously issued has dismayed many BN component parties,” Mahfuz said, adding that he believed other parties in the ruling coalition would object if Ahmad Zahid were to be named as Najib’s deputy.

“That is why he is seeking popularity in Umno, he wants to be a hero, he wants to show that he can fight gangsters.”

On Monday, Ahmad Zahid said PAS Unit Amal, which is not registered with the RoS, would face possible action similar to that taken against the PPS unit. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 3, 2014.