Leaks related to anti-graft agency probes can be reported to police: Malaysia deputy law minister

KUALA LUMPUR: Any leaks related to investigations carried out by the country’s anti-graft agency can be reported to the police, said Malaysia’s Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh on Wednesday (Jun 14). 

“Of course, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) does not allow any leaks of its investigations. 

“But if there are leaks and so on, this can be dealt with by making a police report … and the matter will be investigated further,” Mr Singh told parliament during the Ministers’ Question Time. 

He was responding to Tasek Gelugor Member of Parliament (MP) Wan Saiful Wan Jan who asked how the government plans to stop the leaks of information in the MACC. 

“Lately, a lot of information leaked by unnamed sources from the MACC has been published in the news,” said Wan Saiful. 

“What is the government’s plan to help improve MACC’s weakness in stopping this flood of … leaks so that we can ensure the people … trust that the investigation carried out by MACC is transparent and not for other purposes?”

He also noted that the leaks raise the question of whether information was intentionally leaked by the MACC. 

Last Thursday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said in parliament that leaks from anonymous sources in the MACC are in no way related to the agency itself, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT). 

Subsequently, Ms Azalina in a parliamentary written reply, stated that the MACC Act prohibits any information on the agency’s probes from being revealed until charges are filed in court.