Review whistleblower Act, says Bar Council

By Benedict Ng (benng@mmail.com.my)

PETALING JAYA – The Malaysian Bar Council has called for a review of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 because it is not achieving its goals.

Vice-president Steven Thiruneelakandan said Section 6(1) of the Act does not allow disclosure of information specifically prohibited by any written law.

“What is ‘prohibited by any written law’ includes disclosure of information protected under the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Bafia),” he said.

“This prohibition should be lifted to encourage whistleblowers to come forward and disclose information on improprieties without fear of facing criminal sanctions.”

He said the Act should also provide disclosure to independent bodies such as the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) as there is no such provision at present.

“The Act does not achieve the desired level of protection for whistleblowers and it is not as effective as it should be in promoting the disclosure of wrongdoings,” he said.

Steven felt the court martial of Mej Zaidi Ahmad for bringing to light the inefficacy of indelible ink during elections last year was unacceptable.

“The allegation suggests a pre-determination of the case against Mej Zaidi and is a breach of procedural fairness,” he said.

“The court martial had proceeded in haste and had compromised the integrity of its proceedings.”

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Akhbar Satar said the Act did not protect whistleblowers.

He said if individuals were to release statements on improper conduct to the public or press, the Act would automatically be not applicable.

“The said law requires the whistleblowers to only report directly to the designated agencies to be protected,” he said.

“One may file a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate before proceeding further.”

Akhbar said if Mej Zaidi had followed standard operating procedures and filed a report with the MACC, he would not have been prosecuted.

In 2010, the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 came into effect on Dec 15 to curb corruption and encourage informers to expose corrupt practises and other misconducts.

It was also formulated to provide immunity to informers from civil or criminal charges if applied accordingly.