KUALA LUMPUR: An activist who criticised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's act of converting a Hindu man to Islam was questioned by the police yesterday.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, who represented 53-year-old Arun Dorasamy, said his client had his statement recorded in Bukit Aman.
Arun spent about 30 to 45 minutes with the investigators.
Police are investigating the matter under Section 504 of the Penal Code, Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act and Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act.
"My client stated that he will eventually answer all the questions posed by the police in court. He was not arrested.
"The police said they will complete the investigation papers and will submit it to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).
"The ball will then be in the AGC's court and they will have to decide whether to charge Arun under the sections he is being investigated under," Rajesh told the New Straits Times today.
Rajesh said Arun, an engineer by profession, who in the video spoke mostly in Tamil, expressed regret that the prime minister had personally converted the man to Islam.
He said Arun's issue was that the prime minister had conducted the conversion instead of the Islamic authorities.
"By right, it should be someone from the Islamic authorities, not the prime minister. It would not be an issue if it was someone from the Islamic religious department or imam of a mosque who did it.
"So it is rather disconcerting and a cause of concern that the prime minister is seen going to the ground and converting someone from any religion to Islam. That seems to be my clients point.
"Why is Anwar doing it? Furthermore, he is not an authorised person," said Rajesh.
Rajesh said Arun felt the entire investigations against him was not right, describing it as unseemly and hindering his freedom of expression.
"My client is perfectly fine and he will fight this. He has not said anything wrong at all. Nothing defamatory.
"There is no reason for the police to investigate him. In the event there are charges against him, he will fight this vigorously," said Rajesh.
Meanwhile, Arun, on his Facebook page yesterday, said he had successfully recorded a statement with the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit at 10am and completed at 11.15am.
"Thirty questions were asked of me, my answers were firmly 'I will answer in court, Sir.'
"I must say the PDRM officers were professional and friendly. We were provided car and escort," he wrote.