A-G keen to protect wrongdoers and punish whistle-blowers, says group
The attorney-general’s (A-G) proposal that harsher penalties be imposed on those who leaked secrets appears to be an attempt to protect those who committed wrongdoing, said National Oversight and Whistle-blowers (NOW). The centre’s director, Akmal Nasir, said people risked coming forward with official secrets because they wanted those who breached the public’s trust to be made accountable. The leaking of official secrets would only end when those who abused their powers were brought to book, said Akmal, who was under police investigation for allegedly “unlawfully obtaining” documents from the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yapeim). “Unfortunately, the A-G’s suggestion to tighten laws on the punishment for whistle-blowers, including life imprisonment and caning, appears to be done to punish whistle-blowers and protect those who breached the public’s trust. “The leaking of information related to power abuse, leakages and breach of trust only happens when there is a loss of confidence in an organisation. “Failure to take action internally is what spurs whistle-blowers to find alternatives. Most exposes are done for public interest and are able to stop something from being repeated,” said Akmal in a statement. He was responding to reports that A-G Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali would look into amending the Official Secrets Act 1972 to punish those who leaked secrets. Apandi reportedly told Sin Chew Daily he was considering life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the rotan for offenders. He said media practitioners might also be charged with revealing sources who leaked official secrets. Akmal said today NOW would not stop serving the people even if the amendments were made. He said such a law was no longer relevant as hiding secrets nowadays was impossible, especially if they could have adverse effects on the public. – February 7, 2016.
