DRUG SUSPECT NOT LINKED TO ROYALTY

Man not in list recognised by Sultan Ibrahim, says Johor royal council

THE Johor Council of the Royal Court yesterday clarified that the 31year-old man charged in court with drug possession and drug abuse was not linked to the Johor royal household.

Johor Council of the Royal Court president Datuk Abdul Rahim Ramli said despite the title, which the man has in his name, he was not in the list of people who were recognised by Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar as being members of Johor royalty.

“The privilege and power to appoint and include a person or persons as a member of the Johor Royal Family is vested in the sovereign as provided for in Article 7 (2) (e) of the Second Part of the Johor State Constitution of 1895.

“The suspect was never included in the royalty list.

“A royal decree of 1922 categorically excludes persons not appointed by the sovereign under the said Article from being recognised as royalty,” Rahim said yesterday.

He said news reports had erroneously referred to the man as a member of Johor royalty.

“Even if you have a title, you can’t call yourself a member of Johor royalty.

“Such things are only determined by the sultan of Johor.

“There is a list of royalty that is determined by the sovereign. As far as I’m concerned, only the sultan’s children can be called members of Johor royalty,” said Rahim.

The man in question, Tunku Alang Reza Tunku Ibrahim, 31, was charged yesterday at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court with possessing drugs and drug abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to a charge of abusing syabu at the Bandar Utama police station at 2.20am on June 4.

He also pleaded not guilty to another two joint charges with his friend, Puteri Nur Zawani Mohd Rasid, 33, of possession of 0.9g of syabu and 0.15g of cannabis at Condominium Ritz Perdana 2, Bandar Damansara Perdana 2, Petaling Jaya, at 12pm the same day.