MACC: Fernandez mentioned corruption

MACC's director of investigations Mustafar Ali says that based on the reports in local dailies, the Tenaganita chief spoke about corruption with regard to the migrant workers issue.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said it is seeking details with regard to activist Irene Fernandez’s allegation that corruption is involved in the poor treatment of migrant workers.

Speaking to FMT, MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali said the commission was looking into the totality of the Tenaganita executive director’s statement, based on reports in local dailies.

“We are not investigating her. We are just getting some details from her,” he added.

On Tuesday, local dailies carried Fernandez’s interview with Jakarta Post, in which she was quoted as saying that Malaysia was not safe for migrant workers due to the lack of safety regulations.

The Indonesian newspaper also claimed that Fernandez had attributed the problem to corruption among Malaysian officials.

The report received brickbats from the government, with Deputy Human Resources Minister Maznah Mazlan describing Fernandez’s remarks as “unethical, inaccurate and unpatriotic.”

‘I was misquoted’

Fernandez, on the other hand, denied making statements on corruption and claimed that Jakarta Post had misquoted her on several matters.

“I didn’t make any statements about employers paying the police or buying court verdicts as reported by Jakarta Post. All I said was that employers tend to act with impunity,” she said.

Fernandez added that she was also misquoted by Jakarta Post as saying that employers went unpunished because they paid the police and immigration officers in collusion to blame the workers instead.

“My statement was that undocumented workers are the ones punished while employers get away,” she said.

Fernandez had sent an email to Jakarta Post on Tuesday seeking for a correction.

The veteran activist told FMT that she was concerned that MACC was acting in a reactionary manner over the issue.

“I’m concerned that public institutions are being used against a human rights activist like me,” she said.

MACC officers are scheduled to meet Fernandez at her office at 10am tomorrow.