KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed yesterday that police had recorded his statement two days ago over remarks that the DAP claimed were seditious.

He said he gave police his full cooperation and handed over items related to the speech he was said to have uttered during a “ceramah” in Tumpat, Kelantan, on Sept 22.

“I gave everything to the police. The audio, video, and also the transcript of my speech. I have full confidence in the police to investigate [me], the minister who is in charge of them,” said Zahid when met at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar also confirmed this earlier at Bukit Aman. “Investigations are still ongoing. We have already called him [Zahid] to give his statement,” said Khalid.

Last month, Perak DAP lodged a police report against Zahid, claiming that he had made seditious remarks during his speech while campaigning during the Pengkalan Kubor by-election.

Zahid was alleged to have claimed that DAP members were throwing stones at the then Perak Raja Muda’s car during a demonstration held in Kuala Kangsar, at the height of the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009.

The DAP had since denied the incident, calling them as lies intended to pit Malays against the Chinese community.

The police initiated the investigations within 24 hours after DAP’s Rasah MP Teo Kok Seng lodged a report against Zahid, accusing the Umno vice-president of inciting racial sentiments. Prior to that, Perak DAP state-secretary Wong Kah Wah had also lodged a report based on the same complaint.

Early this month, police recorded statements from a reporter and an assistant news editor from an online news portal, which had published Zahid’s allegedly offensive remarks on Sept 23. — by Muzliza Mustafa/The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 16, 2014.