PETALING JAYA: Fugitive politician Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos claims he is still in Malaysia, and chided the authorities for wasting their time looking for him overseas.



In a two-minute video uploaded to YouTube, which was dubbed with a phone call recording of the Sungai Besar Umno division chief, Jamal said he was aware that Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had requested the assistance of foreign enforcement agencies, including Interpol.



“It is a waste of time and Interpol doesn’t have to entertain the request as my crimes are not serious, not to the extent of threatening the life of another person.



“I only committed minor offences, including protesting against the Better Beer Festival by breaking beer bottles in front of the Selangor state secretariat building,” he said.



He added that his offences carried with them only minor fines if convicted.



“It is up to the Government to ask Interpol (for assistance) or to cooperate with other countries, but to me, I am still in the country.



“The Immigration director-general also stated that there was no record of me leaving the country.



“It doesn’t matter where they claim I am now. The most important thing is I didn’t break any of the nation’s laws,” he claimed.



Jamal is being investigated for at least six offences, including creating public nuisance by breaking bottles of alcohol to protest the Better Beer Festival at the Selangor state secretariat building on Oct 5 last year.



He was under police remand at the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital’s premium ward, where he was undergoing treatment for back pain, but was found missing by Shah Alam Court assistant registrar Rahasbiah Abd Rahman when she turned up to issue his bail.



His lawyer later said there was a misunderstanding over the matter.



Jamal then promised to present himself to the police on May 30, but failed to do so.



Later, he released a video of himself at an oil palm plantation, where he claimed there was an effort by certain parties to direct the police to frame him at any cost.



An arrest warrant was issued for him last Friday (June 1) for the offence of escaping or resisting police custody.



Police have launched a manhunt called Ops Tutup to find him, but believe he has since fled to Indonesia.

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