Thousands gather to protest native boy’s death

The drug syabu, widely available in Lawas,
according to Sarawak PKR, has taken the
life of a 19-year-old native.
LAWAS: Several thousands of people arrived from all over Lawas, Limbang and Sabah yesterday to protest the murder of 19-year-old Edwin Singa Pelipus from the Lun Bawang community in Long Lopeng and called for justice to be done.

Edwin was found murdered last Friday evening.

According to the organisers of the protest, two other alleged cases of physical violence and stabbings – both resulted in grievous bodily harm and disability – have occurred in Lawas, from as far back as 2005.

All these incidences were allegedly linked to the syabu drug. Syabu is also known as methamphetamine.

It is further alleged that these criminal acts were all perpetrated by the same group of people.

Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian said the protesters demanded that the authorities take proper action and fully investigate this latest incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“I was told that the Ketua Polis Daerah Lawas has promised and given his personal assurance to the protesters that the case will be fully investigated. I thank him for his personal involvement in this matter.

“Secondly, the protesters want to highlight the syabu menace that has been plaguing Lawas and are demanding the authorities to investigate and stop the well-known activities of the trafficking and use of illicit drugs in the region, especially syabu.

“Thirdly, the protesters wanted to make clear that their protest was strictly about demanding for justice against a heinous criminal act.

“They wanted to make it known that their protest was not based on racial or religious sentiments, as suggested by some bloggers and irresponsible quarters seeking to stoke or incite racial and religious sensitivities, and have been misreporting twisted facts,” said Bian in a statement.

Call for calm

Bian’s text message yesterday called for calm. He advised the protesters not to take the law into their own hands.

Bian who is Ba’Kelalan assemblyman said that he had brought up the syabu problem during the May 2012 sitting of the State Assembly and again in July this year.

Bian said syabu was easily available in Lawas and Limbang to the extent of it being sold at vegetable and poultry markets at RM50 a piece.

Instead of taking action, the police had at that point criticised him for bringing up a non-issue.

An irate Limbang OCPD, Supt Mohd Bukhori Saffai who had criticised Bian said there was no basis for the allegation because while some arrests had been made by police, none were in vegetable and poultry markets.

“I hope Baru can back up his claim with solid proof so we can act fast, but until today there was no basis to it,” he had said.

Meanwhile, the presence of thousands of protesters had raised tension as the local Malay community who felt threatened gathered their own people, friends and relatives from nearby towns and villages to confront the Lun Bawang crowd.

Worried Lawas police called for assistance from police personnel and those from General Operation Force from Limbang to help them to help control the explosive situation.

So far the police have arrested three suspects in relation to Edwin’s murder. The suspects will be charged on Friday.

[Photos sourced from http://www.namaberita.com]

24 comments:

  1. Orang ramai dan PDRM perlu ada kerjasama yang baik dalam sama2 menangani masalah dadah di negara ini.

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    Replies
    1. PDRM haruslah cekap menangani masalah seperti ini. Kerana ini akan menimbulkan kekacauan jika tidak diselesaikan.

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    2. Kes pembunuhan yang dikatakan berkaitan dengan geng dadah syabu ini memang patut dikenakan tindakkan undang-undang yang berat.

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    3. PDRM harus bertindak segera. Saya yakin hal ini sangat teruk hingga menyebabkan protes berlaku.

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    4. Kerjasama semua masyarakat perlu dalam menangani masalah jenayah

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  2. Takziah kepada keluarga mangsa. Kejadian ini mungkin tidak akan berlaku jika usaha membanteras kegiatan dadah di kawasan itu dilakukan dengan tegas.

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    Replies
    1. Takziah kepada keluarga mangsa. Diharap menghadapi dugaan dengan tabah

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  3. Diharapkan isu ini tidak dipolitikkan atau dijadikan sentimen perkauman.

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    Replies
    1. Isu jenayah diharap tidak dipolitikan, biar pihak polis menjalankan tugas

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    2. ya.. isu ini tk perlu nk dipolitikkan.

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  4. Semoga kes ini dapat diselesaikan. Insiden seperti ini perlu diambil sebagai iktibar.

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  5. May the late Edwin's soul rest in peace.

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  6. Why no report about this incident in television?

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  7. Mungkin rtm/tv3 tak dapat sampai tempat tu kot. hihihi.. Klaau tak pun patut rakam guna video, jadi boleh hantar dengan CNN. hihi

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  8. Adui, macam mana juga hal ini boleh berlaku. Kalau saya pun saya marah juga polis oo.

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    Replies
    1. Diharap kes tu mendapat pembelaan

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  9. Harap pihak polis akan berusaha menanggani permasalahan ini.

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  10. Patut2 hukuman utk org yang ambil syabu tu tinggi barulah takda yang berani dealing dengan drugs lagi.

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  11. Pasti pembangkang akan mengambil kesempatan dalam isu kematian budak bumiputera Sawarak tu

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  12. kes ini akan diselesaikan oleh PDRM.

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  13. It sad to see that this tragic affair has spun out of control and manifest itself on to the street causing massive civil unrest within the town of Lawas. To add salt on towound, the root of this matter stems out of drug abuse. i belive that Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali was spot on when she said that parents play a critical role in ensuring that their children do not resort to substance abuse. Dr Siti Hasmah, wife of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said drug addiction should not be seen as a disease because it was a personal choice.Drug abuse is completely preventable and curable if properly addressed from the beginning.

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    1. The key to this is awareness, especially among parents. They must know their roles well, seek counselling, and learn how to manage time with their children. This was mentioned after launching the Program Kenali Anak Kita Petronas (PKAKP). Dr Siti Hasmah, a patron for the campaign, said Petronas had exercised an important part of corporate social responsibility by protecting the youth against the drug scourge. Despite the strict penalties imposed on those found guilty of taking and trafficking drugs, the social ill is still on the rise here. Children must be taught to stay away from these activities through education and programmes like this.

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    2. She said a softer approach was required to rehabilitate drug addicts. Petronas' senior manager of corporate affairs Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah said the company had invested close to RM1.6 million in the first phase of PKAKP. Going forward until 2014, we have contributed another RM2 million. We hope to expand this programme to Sabah and Sarawak as substance abuse is a very serious issue there, too. He said the main focus of their programmes were parents, and not just children, because a strong family unit was the first step in the prevention of drug abuse.

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    3. Drug rehabilitation organisation Pengasih said it had managed to rehabilitate many addicts in the 22 years since its inception. We have treated more than 5,400 drug addicts and 70 per cent of them are fully rehabilitated and doing well with their lives today. Some of them have even joined Pengasih as members. This statement can't be true enough and was mentioned by it's president, Datuk Mohd Yunus Pathi, who was present at the launch. He said the organisation was focusing its efforts on prevention as much emphasis had been given to rehabilitation.

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