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.
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