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Monday, October 18, 2010

PM must act against AG over Immigration DG's acquittal :Phang


Robert Phang

THE acquittal of former Immigration Director-General Datuk Wahid Md Don portrays a disgraceful display of prosecution by the Attorney-General (A-G)’s Chambers.

Wahid was alleged of pocketing RM60,000 in return for speeding up visa approvals for foreign workers.

There have been too many cases in the past four years of the A-G failing to prosecute successfully or having its cases throw own of court.

The A-G’s Chambers need to buck up to ensure justice is served and cases are adequately prosecuted.

This is bad for the people and country as the confidence of investors are affected by the judiciary’s performance.

Specifically, the image of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is affected when the A-G fails to prosecute or in its prosecution.

It is a known fact, the power and duty of MACC is to investigate.

Whether the MACC probe was thorough or not is another matter but it is the A-General who decides whether to prosecute or NFA (No Further Action) a case.

On Friday, the MACC announced that it would appeal against the acquittal and discharge of Wahid.

The A-G has much to explain for losing so many corruption cases in recent years and must therefore act to correct the negative perception it had caused to the government in its fight against corruption.

The public is of the opinion that there is something very seriously wrong with the A-G Chambers for its string of losses in courts.

The Rakyat wants to know whether the A-G has done enough to ensure investigations were thorough and that evidence had been whole-heartedly gathered, before being brought to Courts of Laws.

Also of public concern are the recent allegations in an open letter by former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain that the criminal justice system had worsened after the 2005 Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission Report.

If the allegations are true, there is cause for great concern for the people, government and country.

The Rakyat is equally concerned in the allegations that the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and A-G Tan Sri Gani Patail had colluded to fabricate evidence, thereby hijacking the fair and due process of the law.

I do not mean to question the judiciary but its role is crucial in upholding the rule of law and justice.

The government needs to display clear willingness to go after the corrupt, irrespective of their standing in office, and not go after the whistleblowers.

It would be unfair in the case of the MACC, inevitably the people would naturally form the perception that it is failing in its duty whenever the A-G decides not to prosecute a case or loses a legal battle in court.

I appeal to YAB Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and de-facto law minister Y.B.Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz to seriously look into and address the problems of the A-G Chambers’ consistent failure in court battles.

The Rakyat deserve to know the “TRUTH”.


(Tan Sri Robert Phang is on the Panel of Advisory Commissioners to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission)

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