Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says police investigations are free from political interference, including in its probe against editors of a Chinese daily over the incorrect depiction of the Jalur Gemilang.
Saifuddin said that police had investigated two Sin Chew Daily editors under Section 3(1)(c) of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963; Section 4(1)(b) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984; and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Section 3(1)(c) deals with the use of an emblem without the permission of the minister, while Section 4(1)(b) deals with producing publications that cause hostility, enmity, hatred, disharmony or disunity.
Section 233 deals with improper use of network facilities.
“The police carry out their duties professionally, independently without any political interference, at all times,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.
Saifuddin said this in response to Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong) who wanted to know why the two editors were remanded over the gaffe but no arrests were made for a similar blunder by a PAS politician and the education ministry.
Lim had questioned the alleged double standards in the investigations.
In April, Sin Chew courted controversy for publishing an illustration featuring the Jalur Gemilang without the crescent moon, leading to a police investigation. Its two top editors were subsequently detained.
The daily swiftly apologised for the “technical mistake” and suspended its chief editor and deputy chief sub-editor pending the outcome of the investigation.
A week after Sin Chew’s snafu, the education ministry had to apologise for a mistake in the design of the Jalur Gemilang printed in its Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results analysis report.
The report contained an image of a Jalur Gemilang with two stars, instead of one, hanging on a classroom wall. The flag had eight alternating red and white stripes instead of 14.
In May, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan acknowledged the incident involving the logo for the Himpunan Teguh Memimpin Terengganu (TMT 1.0) 2025, which depicted an incomplete national flag with incorrect star points and stripes.
He then called for a thorough investigation and firm action over the blunder.
