Attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali's proposal to strengthen the Official Secrets Act to include life imprisonment and caning for whistleblowers reveals a primitive mind, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"It tells of a very primitive mind and is un-Islamic. The Quran repeatedly enjoins upon Muslims to judge with justice.
"The punishment should fit the crime. It should not be excessive. Even for your foes you have to judge with justice, if you are guided by the teachings of the Quran,"said the former premier in a blog post today.
In an interview with Sin Chew Daily last month, Apandi said he would like to strengthen the OSA so that those who leak government secrets, and journalists who protect the source of leaks, can be sentenced to life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane.
The AG has since told the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) that his plans were not meant to target the press specifically.
In his blog post, Mahathir said the OSA can't be used to protect criminal acts performed by civil servants.
"The OSA is not meant to make a secret of criminal acts perpetrated by officers and employees of the government.
"Such criminal acts are not above the law. They should be investigated by the authorities and be put before a court," the former premier said.
He added covering up such crimes was itself a criminal act.
This was in reference to the RM2.6 billion donation received by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Apandi has cleared Najib of any criminal misconduct in regards to the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million from SRC international cases.
Najib has also consistently denied allegations that he used public funds for personal gain and rubbished the accusations as part of a plot to topple him. -Mkini
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