Hamzah wrong to sit on files of wrongdoing, say lawyers

 

Hamzah Zainudin should lodge a police report if he has knowledge of any purported wrongdoing by those in government, a lawyer says. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin has been reminded that it is an offence to withhold information about wrongdoing by government leaders following his statement that he has “files against them” from the time he was home minister.

Several lawyers, who said Hamzah’s statement implied that he knew of wrongdoing, questioned why he did not act on the matter when he was at the home ministry.

V Vemal Arasan said Hamzah should lodge a police report if he had knowledge of any purported wrongdoing.

He said withholding information on a crime would be an offence.

“He claimed some politicians in the government today committed wrongdoing. Why did he not take action then?” Vemal told FMT.

“He should know that (it’s an offence to withhold information on crimes) because he was the home minister for a few years,” he said, adding that Hamzah would essentially be complicit if he did not act despite knowing of wrongdoing.

Yesterday, Hamzah was quoted by Malaysiakini as telling the government not to find fault with Perikatan Nasional as he could do the same with them.

Hamzah had said during an interview recently that he “has files on government party leaders” from his time as a minister. “I used to be the home minister, I think I’ve got a lot of files against them too, whether I want to use it or not,” he was quoted as saying.

Another lawyer, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, said there was no point for Hamzah to make rhetorical statements against political opponents, as he should have acted when he was the home minister.

“He can’t keep (these ‘files’) and then use them for political purposes later. In the past, we heard of people claiming they had ‘six boxes’ of files on the government’s wrongdoing but until today, no one has come forward,” he said.

Haniff was making reference to former PKR leader Ezam Noor, who in 1998 claimed he had “six boxes of evidence” of corruption by top government officials during the first Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Nagarajan said Hamzah’s failure to act on the supposed files constituted negligence and misfeasance in public office.

“You can’t sit on things like this. He should immediately take action and ask the police to investigate. He should not hold on (to the purported) evidence and only use them on rainy days,” he said. - FMT