KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should not play a role in any investigation concerning its embattled chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, said the lawyer representing the journalist who helped expose his alleged impropriety.
Manjeet Singh Dhillon, who is the legal counsel for investigative journalist Lalitha Kunaratnam, said the police report purportedly filed by an MACC senior assistant commissioner named Mohan Munusamy on January 8 did not inspire any confidence on any related probe.
“Ms Lalitha’s call is that this should be done by a credible and independent body with no hint of bias or conflict of interest, and one that inspires total public confidence in keeping with the status, role and responsibilities of the MACC in dealing with corruption in Malaysia,” Manjeet said in a statement.
He said that Mohan’s police report, as reported in a local news portal, contained “premature” and “know-all” conclusions regarding Azam’s conduct even before an investigation was launched.
The lawyer’s statement was made in response to a letter of demand from Azam served on Lalitha on Thursday.
Lalitha, whose reports alleging Azam’s abuses were published on the Independent News Service news portal, shared on her Twitter account the LoD served to her by legal firm Zain Megat and Murad on behalf of Azam.
Lalitha’s reports, titled Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? is a two-part series detailing Azam’s alleged abuses, as well as his supposed ties and ownership details within several public-listed companies.
Manjeet said Azam’s legal team had sought a retraction and apology for the two articles, as well as RM10,000 in damages for alleged defamation contained in them.
“Notwithstanding the letter of demand, Ms Lalitha stands by the articles she wrote and their contents and reiterates that the analysis therein is based on facts and information, contained in, inter alia, the database of public records, regulatory reports, and corporate financial filings,” he said.
“She will deal with the letter of demand in line with legal advice from her solicitors,” he added.
Manjeet revealed that the two articles, first published on October 26, 2021, had suffered a distributed denial-of-service attack and were down for several weeks.
He said that prior to the republishing of the articles on December 15, 2021, Lalitha had reached out to Azam via WhatsApp on December 10 seeking his side of the story.
Manjeet added that she had also contacted Azam’s aide, Mohd Fadzil, to remind the chief commissioner to respond to her.
“There was no response from either Azam Baki or Mohd Fadzil,” he said.
He added that the journalist had welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s calls for an investigation into the matter. – The Vibes, January 9, 2022
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