Be fair in probe in cop kicking motorcyclist incident -Tiong

He said, the original intention of the personnel from the Sibu police headquarters was to maintain traffic order and security for the people, while believing that should the policeman chose to pursue and run after the escaped suspect, he might disrupt the traffic flow, endangering other road users and even cause an accident.

“If the motorcyclist was involved in a crime or suddenly pulls out a weapon to threaten the police officer, what will we say instead? We must appreciate the courage of the officer in enforcing the law,” he said in a statement.

He said the community should be grateful to law enforcement agencies, particularly the traffic police, to respond bravely and promptly in an instant to prevent the potential suspect from escaping and continuing to flout the law.

“However, these efforts are usually ignored in the heat of online comments. These comments will also hit the morale of the law enforcement officers who thought they were merely carrying out their duty to maintain public security,” he said.

Tiong, who is also Bintulu MP said he was not defending the traffic policeman nor the errant motorcyclist as he called for all parties to take a neutral and rational view of the matter.

“After all, we must work together to reasonably safeguard social justice. We must remember that if this happens in certain other countries, the law enforcement methods used by police there could be even more brutal or intense,” he added.

In a video clip recorded by a bystander which had gone viral last Tuesday, the traffic policeman, who was conducting Op Motorcycle at Jalan Temple at around 12.15 pm here, was seen kicking a motorcyclist off his bike for making a sudden U-turn.

Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail was reported to have said stern action would be taken against the traffic policeman if he was found guilty.

He said investigation had revealed that the motorcyclist who was riding without a valid licence and was having an expired road tax, had been issued with summonses for riding in the opposite direction and modifying the exhaust pipe of his bike.