After Klang bodyguard assault case, minister says ‘wrong’ if non-Muslims ask Muslims not to fast

PUTRAJAYA, April 15 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin today said stern action must be taken if it was true that Muslims had been asked not to fast, referring to a viral incident of men allegedly assaulted for their religious obligations.

Hamzah said he has already instructed the police to carry out further investigations on the case involving two “personal bodyguards” and their employer, in order to find out about the matter in detail.

“We have to take sterner action. If anyone does something that can cause dissatisfaction, especially purely over the issue of fasting. Fasting is an issue that is the biggest issue in our country.

“We have to understand that they are Muslims, they have to fast, why is it that non-Muslims want to ask them not to fast? It’s something wrong.

“We will take stern action if it truly happened as said,” he told reporters when asked about the case at the Le Meridien Hotel in Putrajaya.

He was speaking to reporters after a roundtable talk with non-Muslim faith leaders on the use of the word “Allah”.

Yesterday, South Klang district police chief ACP Shamsul Amar Ramli said the police had arrested four individuals who allegedly assaulted two men for fasting.

Shamsul Amar said the police report was over an employer who scolded the two men for fasting, and that both victims were allegedly beaten on their backs by the employer and another individual.

The employer was also alleged to have taken a pistol from one of the victims, before allegedly pointing it at them while making threats against them.

The police however said that the case does not involve any racial issue, and advised the public to not abuse social media and share provocative remarks that can disrupt racial harmony or inflame racial sensitivities.

Today, the court allowed the police to remand four individuals aged between 38 and 46 — including a personal bodyguard — for a period of between five to seven days in relation to the assault case.

In a press conference today, Selangor police chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said the arrest of the four individuals had resulted in the police’s discovery of the 44-year-old employer’s illegal money-lending and illegal gambling activities.

The arrest has also led to the police’s seizure of a gun and 10 bullets and the cane used in the beating of the two bodyguards, as well as the seizure of an estimated RM28.25 million worth of 100kg of gold bars and 12,500 pieces of US$100 banknotes.

This case is now being probed under the Penal Code’s Section 324, 298 and 307 and Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951, as well as Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

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