EAIC chief transferred to AG Chambers, no successor named

Just three weeks after highlighting the shortcomings in the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), its chief executive officer Nor Afizah Hanum Mokhtar (pic) has been removed and sent back to the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC).

She was issued a transfer letter dated June 24, 2013 which required her to report for duty at the A-GC on July 1. No successor has been named for the EAIC which probes complaints of misconduct in 19 enforcement agencies.

The letter did not state what position she will assume at the A-GC nor were any reasons given for her transfer, judicial sources told The Malaysian Insider.

In the exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider three weeks ago, Nor Afizah touched on why the commission was largely seen as being ineffective in carrying its duties since it was set up.

The former sessions court judge spoke up following the death in custody of truck driver N. Dhamendran at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lock-up, which led to opposition leaders and activists reiterating the call for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to probe misconduct in the force.

The IPCMC, which was mooted by the 2005 royal commission (RCI) chaired by former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah but shot down by the police, was to be modelled on the United Kingdom’s Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), as well as other police oversight bodies in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, and Hong Kong.

But Nor Afizah said the EAIC was hamstrung by having only one investigating officer to probe complaints against the enforcement agencies under the commission's purview.

“We have very limited manpower,” Nor Afizah told The Malaysian Insider then.

The commission has 23 staff, including the investigating officer, clerks, a driver, legal adviser, administrative officer and an operations director.

It used to have six investigating offices but all except one was recalled back to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last May 16.

The sole investigating officer, with 11 years experience under his belt, was said to have been involved in questioning DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock hours before he was found dead on July 16, 2009.

The EAIC, which was set up in April 2011, investigates complaints of misconduct against the police force, the Immigration Department, the Customs Department, the Rela Corps, the National Anti-Drug Agency, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Department of Environment, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Registration Department (NRD), the Department of Civil Aviation, the Road Transport Department (RTD), the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, the Manpower Department, the Health Ministry (Enforcement), the Tourism Ministry (Enforcement and Licensing units), the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry (Enforcement) and the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (Enforcement).

Nor Afizah had said the EAIC needed an annual budget of at least RM25 million, as well as at least 10 investigating officers and 10 research officers to operate effectively.

She added that they had received 469 complaints as of May 31 this year since it was formed, with 353 complaints against the police. Twenty-one complaints were lodged against the Immigration Department, 15 against the RTD, 10 against the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, and nine against the Customs Department.