Press Release
GIAT COALITION
MACC investigations obstructed by arrests, transfers and confiscation of equipment and documents
Kuala Lumpur, 10th August, 2015 – The GIAT Coalition today, in light of recent actions of arrests of key personnel and confiscation of equipment & documents, calls for an immediate stop of activities that may obstruct the institutions’ competency and capability to conduct their investigations.
In the latest raid on August 6th, MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Hj. Mustafar Ali has revealed that documents and laptops have been confiscated by the police during raids on their office and residences of their staff. These raids have possible legal ramifications in that it would constitute an offence under Section 48 of the MACC Act (2009).
GIAT, which includes Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Friends of Kota Damansara, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Transparency International Malaysia, and Sinar Project, calls for the immediate cessation of actions that obstruct the competency and capability of MACC to investigate possible corruption offences. It calls for not only the immediate return of confiscated equipment and documents to respective MACC divisions, but also to reverse the transfer of two senior officers out of MACC. There must also not be any future actions by authorities that can be seen as as threats or intimidation to investigators.
These actions have already eroded public trust on the competency and capability for the MACC to be able to conduct its investigations in an independent manner without fear or favour. With the dismantling of the special task force investigating 1MDB, the inter-agency raids, the sudden removal of the Attorney General and the suspension of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee investigations on 1MDB, the loss of faith in the integrity and function of key public institutions will have dire ramifications on the stability and governance of this country.
The coalition therefore also calls for the immediate setup of a Royal Commission of Inquiry with terms of reference that would ensure that all key questions surrounding the current 1MDB issue are answered, including the reason(s) for the transfer of a few good gentlemen and officers from the MACC, whose work should be completed by 31 December 2015.
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Media enquiries:
Cynthia Gabriel, Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), cynthiagabriel2@gmail.com
Khairil Yusof, Sinar Project, khairil.yusof@sinarproject.org
Wan Saiful, The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), wansaiful@ideas.org.my
Dr KM Loi, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-Malaysia), kmloi@transparency.org.my
Jeffrey Phang, Friends of Kota Damansara, jfkphang@gmail.com
