Police have ‘evidence to prosecute Akjan’

FMT

Sabah police expect to conclude investigations into a self-proclaimed sultan soon.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have secured “sufficient evidence” to prosecute self-proclaimed “Sulu Sultan” Mohd Akjan Ali Mohammad.


“We will be calling Akjan in to record his statement… we now have sufficient evidence to prosecute him,” state police commissioner Hamza Taib said.

Akjan, a local businessman and Umno member, was widely reportedly to have been “crowned” the 33rd sultan of the Sulu sultanate on Feb 2 in a coronation ceremonyin Kampung Likas near here.

The ceremony was reportedly witnessed by some 60 distinguished guests from here and from the Sulu administration in the southern Philippines.

Following his proclamation, Akjan had allegedly called on the Suluk community in Sabah to be loyal to him and the sultanate.

His coronation shocked Sabahans and opposition leaders have since urged both the state and federal governments to declare their stand on the issue which they said jeopardised the sovereignty of the country.

Speaking to reporters here, Hamza said police were investigating Akjan under Section 505 (b) and 130 C (2)(b) of the Penal Code and Section 28 of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

“We believed that the investigation is likely be completed within a month,” he said.

Police opened a file on Akjan following reports lodged by Sabah Barisan Nasional Youth, PKR and Sabah Progessive Party (SAPP).

The police reports noted that although Akjan was allegedly born in southern Philippines, he holds a MyKad which states his birthplace as Sabah.

Perennial problem

Akjan was reportedly born in Jambangan Nipah-Nipah Jolo in the southern Philippines on Nov 23, 1957. But his MyKad showed his birthdate as July 7, 1957 and place as Sabah.

Sabah BN in its report had urged the police to investigate the authenticity of Akjan’s Malaysian citizenship.
Sabah has a perennial problem with illegal immigrants from neighbouring Philippines and Indonesia.

The police themselves have been accused of being in cahoots with local agents to bring in the illegal immigrants.

Former senator Dr Chong Eng Leong, who also lodged a police report against Akjan, said his research showed that there are at least 600,000 foreigners who had received ICs under the Project IC launched in the 1990s.

This, he said, included Akjan who was arrested under ISA for his involvement with issuing Malaysian ICs in 1996.

Chong, who authored “Lest We Forget” (Security and Sovereignty of Sabah), noted that the state is under threat as foreigners have outnumbered the population of bona fide citizens since 1970.

His book also details the inner workings of the Umno task force and a controversial citizenship scheme named “Project IC” which was launched after Umno stepped into Sabah.