IPOH: The state police have handed over the investigation to the federal police regarding the member of Parliament (MP) for Ipoh Timur, Howard Lee Chuan How, alleged to have made his interpretation of a Quranic verse in a viral video recently.
Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the investigation would be carried out by the Classified Crimes Investigation Unit (USJT) of the Criminal Investigation Department at Bukit Aman following the initial report or first complaint made against the MP at the Jalan Tun Razak police station in Kuala Lumpur.
He said Perak had only received one report regarding the MP, which was made by a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Jalinan Bersatu Sahabat (Jabat) Perak yesterday, requesting an investigation and action to be taken against Lee for allegedly insulting Islam.
"In Perak, we have received only one report concerning him, and we have referred the police report to the original report made at the Jalan Tun Razak police station.
"The federal police's USJT is also investigating this case," he told reporters during a media briefing on the success of an operation to seize ketamine drugs worth RM1.5 million and the arrest of five suspects in the parking lot of the Perak Contingent Police Headquarters (IPK) here today.
Yesterday, the media reported that Jabat Perak had lodged a police report against Lee at the Manjoi police station.
Jabat Perak president Amiruddin Mohd Daud reportedly believed Lee's actions were deliberate insults to Islam, as the parliamentarian was not Muslim but interpreted verses from the Quran, thereby touching on the 3R matters (religion, royalty, race).
Earlier, Perak Pas Youth chief Hafez Sabri described Lee as disrespectful and attempting to provoke when the DAP MP became an interpreter of the Quran, allegedly distorting the interpretation of verse 59 of Surah An-Nisa.
Hafez, also the Manjoi state assemblyman, said Lee's interpretation, as shown in the viral video, was shallow and contained extreme provocation against the sanctity of Islam.
"Lee elaborated on his arguments based on Quranic evidence so that PAS would follow the `ulil amri (those in authority', which he purportedly equated to the current government.
"However, what is his credibility and qualification to interpret the Quranic verse when he is not a Quranic expert," he said.