An alleged thrashing of a member of Malaysia’s royal household and his friends by the grandson of the Sultan of Johor and his bodyguards last week looks set to renew debate over the indiscretions of the royalty and whether they are immune from prosecution.
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Malaysian Princes Come to Blows
By Leslie Lopez
31 October 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: An alleged thrashing of a member of Malaysia’s royal household and his friends by the grandson of the Sultan of Johor and his bodyguards last week looks set to renew debate over the indiscretions of the royalty and whether they are immune from prosecution.
Tunku Nadzimuddin Tunku Mudzaffar, the son of the eldest princess of the Negeri Sembilan royal household, filed a police report over the weekend that he was hit with the butt of a pistol on his head and face by a grandson of the Sultan of Johor.
The alleged offender was identified only as Tengku Ismail, and his father is one of the Sultan’s sons.
The scuffle allegedly took place at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of Saturday and Tunku Nadzimuddin suffered a fractured nose.
A friend of the Negeri Sembilan royal family, Mr Shamshuddhuha Ishak, also filed a police report that he was beaten by the bodyguards of the Johor royal family member and lost consciousness and a front tooth, according to people close to the situation and familiar with the police report.
The alleged beatings took place following an altercation between groups from the two royal households at a popular nightclub in Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of Saturday.
There has been little publicity in the local newspapers over the incident. Sources close to the Negeri Sembilan household said that there is intense lobbying to get Tunku Nadzimuddin and his friends to withdraw the police report.
A close source to the Negeri Sembilan royal household said that the family wants the police to investigate the alleged beatings and bring charges against the assailants.
The police have yet to comment on the alleged incident but a senior government official told The Straits Times that investigations are ongoing and that several suspects are expected to be called up for questioning soon.
Allegations of indiscretions by members of Malaysia’s royal households are not unheard of.
In the early 1990s, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad pushed through sweeping constitutional amendments that removed provisions granting the royalty immunity from prosecution.
Under the country’s Constitution, the country’s nine sultans, who take turns to serve as king under a unique rotation system, are above prosecution in the ordinary courts of the land and can be tried only by a special court.
Royal personages below the level of sultan are not protected from prosecution under the country’s laws.
Lawyers and political analysts say the latest incident involving the royal households of Negeri Sembilan and Johor is likely to be watched closely and will be a test of the government’s determination to bring the country’s royalty to legal parity with commoners.
Several people familiar with the alleged beatings on Saturday say that friends of the grandsons from the Johor and Negeri Sembilan royal households were in separate groups at a nightclub in the heart of Kuala Lumpur on Friday night.
Just after midnight, an altercation broke out between the two groups but the matter was resolved by the nightclub’s bouncers.
According to people close to Tunku Nadzimuddin, the 36-year-old prince from Negeri Sembilan received a call requesting him to show up at a hotel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s financial district to meet the prince from the Johor royal household.
When Tunku Nadzimuddin arrived at the hotel, he and his friends were confronted by the Johor prince and his bodyguards before they were assaulted, people close to the Negeri Sembilan prince allege.
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