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The nation’s FREE newspaper
Exco man
arrested
RONNIE LIU TO BE CHARGED WITH
OBSTRUCTING MPSJ OFFICERS
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
ETALING JAYA: Selangor
P
executive council member Ronnie
Liu was arrested yesterday for
allegedly obstructing Subang Jaya
Municipal Council officers and police
personnel from sealing a three-storey
hotel suspected to be linked to a vice
den in Puchong last year.
Selangor police chief DCP Datuk
Khalid Abu Bakar said a team from
the Subang Jaya district police
headquarters arrested Liu at the state
secretariat building in Shah Alam at
about 2.30pm.
He said the Pandamaran
assemblyman, who heads the Local
Government, Study and Research
Committee, was taken to the Puchong
station to have a statement recorded.
He was freed on bail an hour later.
Khalid said Liu had allegedly
tried to stop the police and MPSJ
enforcement officers who were trying
to seal a hotel believed linked to an
illegal massage parlour. Liu was
arrested at the scene on Nov 2 last year
and freed on police bail. Yesterday,
the Attorney-General’s Chambers
instructed police to arrest Liu.
MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS (MALAYSIA)
Khalid said Liu was arrested under
Section 186 of the Penal Code. The
offence is punishable by up to three
months jail or a fine up to RM1,000 or
both. Liu is expected to be charged in a
magistrate’s court on Monday.
Contacted after the weekly state
exco meeting, Liu said police arrested
him and asked him to follow them to
the station. “I told them I had an exco
meeting to attend but they said no, I
had to go with them. There was no
need to resort to such high-handed
tactics. I would have gone if they had
summoned me by letter.” Liu said he
was not handcuffed, but the officers
were harsh with him.
He denied obstructing the
enforcement workers, saying that he
was merely helping guests to retrieve
their belongings as they had been
evicted and the hotel sealed.
Former mentri besar Dr Mohd
Khir Toyo had six months ago brought
up Liu’s alleged role in the raid and
questioned his fitness to be in charge
of local government. Liu responded
by filing a defamation suit on Oct 5
against Khir, who is state assembly
opposition leader. Liu claimed that
Khir had defamed him by describing
him as immoral and involved in vice.
30 sen for delivery to your doorstep
TELLING IT AS IT IS
He beat the candidate of the ruling People Power Party with the promise to improve the image of a
city where anti-government protests have been dragging on for several months. -- AFP
Bangkok governor resigns
over firetrucks-for-chicken deal
BANGKOK: The city’s governor
resigned yesterday after being
accused of corruption over a
US$191 million deal to buy fire
engines and boats, part paid for
in broiled chicken.
Just a month after being re-
elected, Apirak Kosayodhin said
he would step down while an
investigation was carried out into
the four-year-old deal.
“I have decided to resign
from the position of Bangkok
governor ... effective after (the
king’s sister’s six-day funeral on)
Nov 19,” he told a televised news
conference. “Time will prove that
I’m innocent.”
The Electoral Commission
Award winning newspaper
for public service reporting
and opinion writing.
No. 4638 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)
Thursday
November 13, 2008
www.sun2surf.com
said the city must swear in a new
governor within 60 days.
Apirak’s announcement came
after the main anti-corruption
body found Tuesday that he had
breached anti-corruption laws by
signing off on a 2004 deal to buy
315 firetrucks and 30 fire boats
from Austrian firm Steyr Co.
The 6.68-billion-baht deal was
arranged by Apirak’s predecessor,
Samak Sundaravej. Samak went
on to become prime minister,
before he was forced to quit in
September for accepting payment
to appear in television cooking
shows.
The deal was to be part-paid in
Thai broiled chicken, but the meat
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Gutsy doc’s
eureka
moment pg16-17
Seeking
shelter
... Liu at
the police
station
yesterday
to give a
statement.
He is
expected to
be charged
on Monday.
is said to have never reached
Austria; the vehicles were alleg-
edly made in Thailand and not
Austria as agreed, according to
the parliamentary website.
The fire engines, allegedly
shipped to Austria and then back
to Thailand were also said to be
overpriced. They remain locked
up in a Bangkok port. The case will
now be referred to the Supreme
Court to rule on criminal charges
against Samak and Apirak.
Apirak, the deputy head of
the opposition Democrat Party, is
in his second four-year term as
governor after winning an Oct 5
election with nearly 46% of the
vote. – AFP