Cops’ action on Ambiga a warning for others, says Amanah
Government critic Khairuddin Abu Hassan also calls for police and MACC to instead focus on upholding the rule of law and protect the rights of the people.
PETALING JAYA: The harassment of Ambiga Sreenevasan for being a source of information in a London court proceeding is also a warning to other whistleblowers to toe the line, an opposition youth chief and leader of a civil society said.
They said the action against the former Malaysian Bar president also highlighted how law enforcement agencies like the police acted swiftly against opposition and civil society leaders who painted a negative image of those in power and their allies.
Amanah youth deputy chief Faiz Fadzil said he was surprised by police action to investigate Ambiga under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 (MCMC Act 1998) based on a report lodged by Umno’s grassroots movement chairman Zulkarnain Mahdar.
Section 505 (b) deals with the publication and circulation of material with the intent to cause alarm to the public.
“She did not make any allegations at a public meeting but a litigant (Clare Rewcastle-Brown) has in good faith relied on information obtained from Ambiga,” he told FMT.
Faiz was responding to reports that Ambiga is being investigated for allegedly revealing information that PAS leaders had received money from Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The allegation came about after PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s defamation suit against Rewcastle-Brown, filed at the London High Court in April following an article carried by The Sarawak Report on Aug 6 last year.
The article claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Rewcastle-Brown, who filed her defence and counter-claim to a suit in response to Hadi’s defamation suit, said she and Ambiga had spoken about Najib, 1MDB and PAS in July 2016.
“Ambiga had told the defendant that her sources, whom she said were reliable, had estimated the amount that had been paid was around RM90 million,” Rewcastle-Brown said in her affidavit dated Oct 11.
Faiz, who is also a lawyer, said the police had missed the point that it was ridiculous for them to probe Ambiga for the information that was filed in court.
“But I believe the real motive for investigating her is to intimidate her and send a clear message to other would-be whistleblowers to be careful,” he said.
Faiz said the opposition would continue to reveal the contents of Rewcastle-Brown’s defence and counter-claim to the Malaysian public.
He said most of the issues raised in the court proceeding had previously been reported to the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) but no action was taken by either enforcement agency.
“On the other hand, the powers that be are using the same government agencies to act against their political rivals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deklarasi Rakyat coordinator Khairuddin Abu Hassan said Salor assemblyman Husam Musa had for some time revealed locally that he had evidence that RM90 million had been channelled to PAS leaders.
“There was no arrest nor investigation carried out but in Ambiga’s case, an Umno leader made a police report that triggered police to act,” he said.
Khairuddin said all this harassment and intimidation of individuals would not work as more people were aware of the level of corruption and abuse of power.
He said a leadership that lacked legitimacy to administer the country and manage its financial resources would resort to instilling fear in order to remain in power.
“Those who love the people and country will not be afraid of spending a few days in jail,” he said.
Khairuddin, who is a former Batu Kawan Umno division leader, said he had since 2014 filed at least three reports with the MACC over the 1MDB scandal but the agency had not acted decisively.
“Instead, my lawyer Matthias Chang and I were charged with sabotaging the local banking and financial system for making reports over 1MDB in several countries in 2014 and 2015,” he said.
The court later acquitted them on grounds that the prosecution had not presented any evidence linking them to the charge of sabotage.
Khairuddin said law enforcement agencies like the police and MACC should uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of the people.
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