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According to Excel Force Bhd’s 2015 annual report, Azam owned 2,156,000 warrants in the company as of March 21, 2016. At the time, Azam was the head of MACC’s investigation division.
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C4 slams MACC chief on whistleblower protection U-turn
Published: Jan 7, 2022 1:21 PM⋅Updated: 1:58 PM15
Graft watchdog Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) has lambasted MACC’s chief commissioner Azam Baki over an alleged contradictory stance on whistleblower protection.
This comes after he initiated legal proceedings for defamation against the whistleblower, Lalitha Kunaratnam, despite previously showing support for whistleblower protection.
“Azam’s attempt to silence her (the whistleblower) smacks of grave intimidation and fear tactics completely unbecoming of a top graft buster.
“The exposé and Azam’s hostile response serve as yet another devastating blow to the credibility of the MACC, an institution already wrecked by corruption and criminal scandals involving its own officers.
“His legal threats upon a notable anti-corruption campaigner also reiterate the huge personal risk that whistleblowers face when exposing wrongdoing. It is the cruellest irony that it is Azam, of all people, who should be assisting Lalitha to obtain whistleblower protection,” it said in a statement today.
C4 demanded that Azam withdraw the letter of demand upon Lalitha.
Azam came under intense scrutiny after allegations surfaced about him having owned shares in two companies back in 2015.
According to Excel Force Bhd’s 2015 annual report, Azam owned 2,156,000 warrants in the company as of March 21, 2016. At the time, Azam was the head of MACC’s investigation division.
Yesterday, Lalitha – who first published the shareholding allegations against him – shared a snippet of a letter of demand (LOD) sent to her by Azam’s lawyer.
The lawyer demanded Lalitha make a public apology for a report she wrote on this matter and is asking her to pay damages amounting to RM10 million.
Whistleblower support, a lip service?
C4 claimed that this case merely proved that the provisions listed in the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (WPA 2010) were insufficient to protect whistleblowers nor give them the confidence to come forward with information, namely Section 6 (1) WPA 2010.
Section 6 (1) limits whistleblowers to report cases to enforcement agencies only, failing which whistleblower protection would be revoked. Furthermore, it carries with it the condition that the disclosure cannot break any existing law, essentially stifling effective whistleblower efforts.
On Nov 17 last year, Azam said the MACC was in full support of amendments to the WPA 2010 as a way for “enforcement authorities being able to better convince the public to report any misdeeds”.
“Where is the support for whistleblowers now? Was this all mere lip service?
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/605974
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Withdraw letter of demand against MACC whistleblower, Gomez urges Azam
6 Jan 2022
I have just been informed that the whistleblower who wrote to me about the allegations involving the business interests of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki, is being sued.
Azam’s lawyers are demanding that the whistleblower apologise for a report she has written on this matter, issue a public apology and pay damages amounting to RM10m. The whistleblower received the letter of demand today.
I am shocked, even appalled, that this whistleblower, who raised legitimate questions of national interest, is now being sued by Azam. What Azam should be doing is publicly disclosing all his business interests to protect the image and integrity of the MACC.
By sending this letter of demand to the whistleblower, what is now occurring is nothing more than serious intimidation by Azam. If whistleblowers are threatened in this way by those in a position of power – long a trend we have seen in Malaysia – how can we make any progress to get citizens to expose corruption and protect them for doing so?
I call on Azam to withdraw this letter of demand immediately and cease his attempt to victimise the whistleblower.
I also call on the prime minister and the opposition leader to jointly act to begin an immediate review of the functioning of the MACC. The prime minister must also act immediately to create an independent panel to review the allegations of Azam’s business interests.
Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, a political economist, recently resigned from the MACC’s consultative and corruption prevention panel
The views expressed in Aliran’s media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran’s official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran’s official position.
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weehingthong 