KUALA LUMPUR – In 1992, a phone call made by Brian Gomez may have led to events resulting in the federal government’s decision to strip away legal immunities enjoyed by royalty.
Brian is the son of the late Douglas Gomez, who was a teacher and hockey coach who made headlines in 1992.
To understand how Douglas shot to fame in 1992, one only has to look at former deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba’s speech in Parliament on December 10, 1992.
“The Dewan convenes today saddened and views seriously towards the incident involving a Malaysian, Douglas Gomez, who was injured at the Johor palace on November 30, 1992, by the Johor Sultan,” according to Hansard.
During that time, the ruler of Johor was Sultan Iskandar, who was the father of the current Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim.
Taking to X today, Brian said he remembered vividly what happened in 1992 but was not able to reveal everything out of fear of intimidation.
“I can tell you everything (and I know EVERYTHING) that happened in ‘92, but then I’d be thrown in jail – ironically by you, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I made a 2-in-1 call that morning in 1992. 2-in-1 because it was both a phone call and a judgement call.
“I made the call. And there’s a very good chance that if I didn’t make that absolutely clueless decision, the constitutional amendments of 1993 might never have happened,” he posted.
The constitutional amendments Brian refers to here is the government’s decision to implement a special court with powers to hear any proceedings, civil or criminal, against the King or a state ruler in their personal capacity.
Brian’s comments come after reports that a deaf e-hailing driver was allegedly assaulted by a VIP’s bodyguard.
It was revealed by police that after making an initial report, the victim later withdrew it citing that the case was settled.
However, in a statement yesterday, the Deaf Advocacy and Well-being Organisation said the victim was pressured to drop the case and receive compensation of RM800.
In his post, Brian said following the incident of his father’s assault, his family was afforded around-the-clock police protection thanks to then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said there was an undercover police car near his family’s home at all times.
“Never mind that everyone in my neighbourhood knew it was an undercover cop car; they all took photographs in front of it and showed it to their friends and relatives,” he said in his post.
He added that the reason he chose to reveal this information was that his family was given protection not because police themselves were inclined to protect citizens embroiled in a sensitive situation, but as they were ordered by the prime minister to do so. – May 31, 2024