The lawyer for Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (MCBA) director-general Shuhaily Zain has a question for the public: Why now?

Rafique Rashid was responding to allegations that Shuhaily assaulted a rank-and-file police officer in 2015, asking why the matter had resurfaced more than a decade later.

“The question the rakyat must ask is this - why now? Is it to stem the huge uproar of Shuhaily (above) being charged (over a separate case)?” he told Malaysiakini.

“What has the complainant been doing from 2015 until now? Did he lodge a complaint with the police’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department or take any other action?” he asked.