One year after son attacked, Rafizi decries threats, says case ‘died off’ unresolved

PETALING JAYA, Aug 14 — After a year since the attack on his child in Putrajaya, Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has claimed the case has “gone quiet and died off”.

“A year has passed, and the case has gone quiet,” he wrote on Facebook, adding that he had been informally told by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail of a suspected mastermind, but his request for an open statement in Parliament was rejected.

He stressed that such an attack was unprecedented in Malaysia. “Never before has a child been assaulted and a wife threatened simply because of her husband’s political stance,” he said.

Rafizi claimed the assault was intended to pressure his wife into forcing him to retire from politics. He thanked his family for standing firm, saying: “If I bowed to such threats, I would be complicit in allowing wrongdoing, damage and crime to continue in this country.”

He warned that if such methods could be used against the child of a former minister, ordinary citizens could face similar intimidation.

Rafizi vowed to continue seeking justice. “I will wait for 13 August every year until the attacker and those behind them are brought to justice. Even if the authorities do not act, I know they will have to answer in the hereafter,” he said.

Recalling the incident on August 13 last year, Rafizi said his child was attacked in public while attempting to enter a car. He recounted that the assailant, dressed in dark rider’s clothing and wearing a helmet, grabbed his child by the neck and injected him twice in the shoulder while shouting at his wife. He added that his wife later received WhatsApp messages threatening that “the next would be HIV.”

In January, Saifuddin Nasution stated that certain information could not be disclosed to avoid jeopardising investigations or witness safety, adding that the case remained under probe pending new leads.