Rafiq Sadiq
Rafiq Sadiq | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rafiq bin Sadiq May 22, 1986 |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Occupation | Policeman |
| Known for | Attempted assassination plot of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom |
| Criminal charge(s) | Attempted murder Unlawful possession of a firearm |
Rafiq bin Sadiq is a former Malaysian policeman and convicted criminal, known for his arrest by authorities for attempting to assassinate the British head of state, Queen Alexandra during her inaugural state visit to Malaysia on June 2019.
Born in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Rafiq spent much of his early life and later his adulthood in the capital, during which he reportedly landed a job as a cashier at a shopping mall, also located in Kuala Lumpur, where he worked for roughly six years long, before eventually quitting his job there in favour of a new one as a police officer as part of the Royal Malaysia Police, which he began serving since 2015. By the time of the incident, Rafiq had already reached the rank of Superintendent of Police.
On June 2019, amidst a controversial state visit held by Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom to his home country, Malaysia, Rafiq, whom had then not been assigned with any duties as part of the extensive security detail for the visiting British queen, broadcasted himself live on the social media site, Instagram, through which he openly announced his intention to assassinate the visiting British monarch. However, due to the open and public nature of his supposed assassination plot, Rafiq's plan soon caught the attention of authorities, whom identified his vehicle and promptly had him arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was caught with his personal Glock sidearm and an illegally purchased Carbon 15 firearm. Then, due to the sensitive nature of his arrest, Rafiq's capture by police was initially kept secret from the public, but several media outlets soon begin to report on the incident, thereby leading to widespread publicity surrounding Rafiq.
Eventually, on June 30th, the Federal Court of Malaysia sentenced Rafiq to twelve-year-long imprisonment on the charges of attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. Therefore, he is expected to be released by July 2031.
Early Life
A Kuala Lumpur native, Rafiq was born into a fairly stable middle-class Malay Muslim family. His father, Sadiq bin Muhammad Kamal was a government employee, while his mother, Sharifah binti Aziz was a self-employed businesswoman who reportedly made a living selling traditional Malay foods.
After completing both his primary and secondary education, Rafiq opted to further pursue his studies by enroling at the University of Malaya, also located in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Then, after roughly two years long, Rafiq eventually graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in religious studies. According to his educators, Rafiq appeared to be a fairly normal student who showed no signs for concerns on any occasions.
Career
With a bachelor's degree in religious studies, Rafiq initially appeared poised to become a religious teacher or the sort. However, he ultimately settled for a career as a cashier at a prominent shopping mall at the Kuala Lumpur City Center, where he worked for roughly six years long.
In 2012, Rafiq decided to quit his longtime job as a cashier, having instead decided to pursue an entirely new career, this time as a policeman. Soon enough, beginning in that same year, under the banner of the Royal Malaysia Police, Rafiq would go on to loyally serve as a police officer, with most of his coworkers interviewed by authorities in the wake of his arrest later describing Rafiq's as a "promising" and an "overall stand-up officer".
Assassination Plot
On June 2019, Rafiq, by then already a Superintendent of Police himself, had been immediately made aware of the impending state visit of the British monarch, Queen Alexandra to his home country, Malaysia. Then, according to his family members, Rafiq, soon after learning that the British monarch is planning to hold a state visit to the country, was said to have then immediately phoned his parents in a "massive fit of rage", with his father later recounting that the enraged Rafiq often exclaimed, "This cannot happen!".
Meanwhile, according to his credit card records uncovered by the police, it was discovered that just a few days prior to the state visit, Rafiq had illegally purchased a Carbon 15 firearm from an unlawful source, despite already owning a standard-issued Glock handgun as a police officer himself.
Eventually, just a couple of days into the Queen's state visit to Malaysia, Rafiq, whom had not been among the many police officers tasked in ensuring the safety of the British monarch amidst a mostly hostile crowd, would finally begin his long-awaited plot to assassinate the British monarch, whose Jewish heritage was reportedly the underlying motivation for his attempt to assassinate the former. Soon enough, at approximately 10:35 A.M., Rafiq publicly announced in a live stream video on the popular social media site, Instagram, that his assassination plot had officially begun, with the aforementioned live stream then showing Rafiq getting into his Proton Wira automobile and carrying both his Glock and Carbon 15 firearms. Meanwhile, at around this time, it was believed that Queen Alexandra herself was then visiting the historic Sultan Abdul Samad Building in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, where she was accompanied by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah of Pahang.
However, after roughly fifteen minutes into his drive towards his intended destination, that being the Sultan Abdul Samad Building itself, Rafiq was stopped in his tracks by a group of police officers believed to have been ordered by the Inspector-General of Police, Abdul Hamid Bador, whom was said to have been made aware of Rafiq's live stream just a few minutes after it began, and therefore, took the decision to immediately have Rafiq stopped before he could carry out his plot. Meanwhile, in the midst of Rafiq's arrest, authorities discovered the policeman's weapons in his vehicle, namely, a Glock sidearm and a Carbon 15 rifle, both of which were immediately confiscated.
Due to the overwhelmingly sensitive nature of the incident, coupled with the fact that Rafiq's arrest was also momentarily filmed by his still ongoing live stream (which was soon ended by one of the police officers present), authorities were quick to ensure that the upcoming case would remain a closely-guarded secret for as long as possible. However, their efforts soon proved futile when roughly thirty minutes later, Sinar Harian reported the arrest in an article of theirs, which proved quick to garner immediate attention from the public. Initially, the authorities opted to vehemently deny the story, claiming that Rafiq had otherwise been arrested for speeding, before subsequently confirming its veracity, which they did so in a press conference chaired by the inspector-general himself, whom assured the public to "remain calm" while stressing that "justice will be delivered soon enough".
A high-profile and sensational trial soon ensued, with Rafiq's trial taking place at the Federal Court of Malaysia due to its sensitive and high-profile nature. In the midst of this, a large number of rallies were held in Kuala Lumpur, with participants of the rally demanding and pressing for the court to declare the embattled police officer innocent, while the Malaysian Islamic Party's president, Abdul Hadi Awang, whom was one of the rally's central figures, proclaimed that "if he (Rafiq) was declared guilty by the court, he would therefore be a martyr in the eyes of Islam in its fight against Zionism", a remark which promptly drew mass criticism from the international community, while Democratic Action Party politician, Lim Kit Siang criticised Hadi's perceived attempt at "influencing the decision of the judiciary", whose decisions he stressed should be free of public opinion and influence. Around that same time, British Prime Minister David Cameron, in his commentary on the trial, urged the Malaysian government to prosecute Rafiq to the "full extent of the law", and to "not pull a North Korea", a reference to a controversial decision back in 2017 by the Malaysian government under then-Prime Minister Najib Razak to dismiss a murder charge against an Indonesian woman involved in the fatal assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Eventually, on June 30th, the Federal Court of Malaysia declared Rafiq to be guilty on the charges of attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm, pertaining to his illegal possession of a Carbon 15 rifle, an offense which was considered to be in violation of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971. Furthermore, on the basis of those aforementioned charges, he was also given a twelve-year-long prison sentence, which he began serving at an undisclosed federal prison, so as to avoid attracting further publicity. Rafiq is therefore expected to be released in 2031.