Guan Eng's legal officer refutes police claims

GEORGE TOWN: Legal officer to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today refuted claims by the police that Lim was to blame for the delay in questioning his son over an alleged molest case.
In a press statement, Raja Syarafina Raja Shuib clarified that checks revealed that the secretary in the Chief Minister's office did not receive any request from the police call from Dec 31, 2013 until Feb 23 this year.
She said the office had instead set up a session for Lim to be have his statement taken last Thursday after receiving a letter from the police on Feb 23.
She stressed the office also did not receive any prior request before the above date and urged police to identify the officer they spoke to if they had called.
She added this case was under the Attorney-General (AG) purview and the AG should explain the slow progress of the case.
Lim had his statement taken last week over investigations into accusations that his son outraged the modesty of a girl six years ago.
Lim earlier expressed his unhappiness over why the investigations into the case were taking so long.
Police reportedly said no one from the CM's office got back to them after the investigating officer called five times to set a date for Lim to have his statement taken only until March 2.
Accusations on Lim's son surfaced in Oct 2011 in various blogs with the picture of the purported victim.
It was claimed the then teenage boy had molested his schoolmate and that money was paid to cover up the matter.
The claims could not stick after Hong Kong chess player Anya Corke, whose picture was used, said she was never molested by Lim's son.
In a statement then, Corke said she had "never been victimised in any way by this boy or his family."