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Friday, 22 October 2010

MACC top gun upset over all that wasted effort in court

The Star

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy commissioner (operations) Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul has voiced his disappointment over the commissions failure to win some high profile corruption cases recently.

He said MACC had worked very hard to collect evidence to bring those accused to justice but sometimes their efforts went to waste.

“This gives the public a negative perception of our agency, as though we are not taking matters seriously,” he told reporters at the MACC headquarters yesterday.

Shukri said most witnesses were reluctant to co-operate with MACC because they did not want to risk their relationships with family members, subordinates or business partners.

Of the average 10,000 cases reported every year, he said only half could be probed and eventually only about 200 could be brought to court.

“Singapore and Hong Kong have a 90% conviction rate while Indonesia and China have almost a 100% rate. In those countries, the evidence adduced in court is strong enough and guarantees conviction,” he said, adding that Malaysia only had a 68.1% rate.

Shukri said the MACC should not be the only one carrying the burden, adding that all had a part to play.“The judicial system should also look into the issue. Minor things like differing statements by the witness like which hand did the accused take the money in can cause a problem.

“What is more important is whether there was corruption or not,” he stressed.

Asked about the role of polygraph examiners or experts trained to operate lie detectors, he said that they were only used during the investigations process and were not applicable in court.

“We will try to work with former MACC officials who are now practising law to help our cause.”

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