PETALING JAYA: Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says it is unfair to judge him so quickly as he is only on his fifth day at the job.
“I am open to people’s opinion but I would like to say that human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) should look at my previous record and not jump to conclusions,” Saifuddin told a press conference at Bukit Aman today.
As a minister who has just started, he said, it is only fair for him to listen to the problems faced by agencies under his ministry first.
“We are having discussions with all of them now and eventually we will come up with plans. So don’t jump to conclusions within five days,” he said.
Yesterday, LFL criticised Saifuddin for downplaying a “food and health crisis” at the Kimanis immigration detention centre in Sabah.
Its director, Zaid Malek, described Saifuddin’s remarks on the matter as “one of the most specious and ridiculous responses ever advanced by a home minister in the face of custodial abuse”.
On Dec 9, Saifuddin said a frail-looking individual who had alleged dismal conditions at the Kimanis immigration detention centre was already in poor health before he was detained.
This comes after a video clip and several photographs had gone viral on social media showing frail-looking individuals said to have been incarcerated at the centre.
