KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): The attorney-general should be using his position to enact laws that combat corruption instead of thinking up regulations to facilitate graft, the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) said today.

Its director, Cynthia Gabriel, said that the proposal by Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali to amend the Official Secrets Act to facilitate stricter punishment for whistle-blowers was an unabashed act to conceal the state's dirty secrets.

She said that the wide net of the OSA over all classes of official information meant the act was not simply a tool to protect national security.

“It has clearly acted as a shield to conceal the sins of corruption, punish the whistleblower, and mushroom a culture of impunity while helping shape a 'kleptocratic' political leadership,” she said in a statement.

Apandi proposed to strengthen the OSA, adding that the law could be used against journalists who protected their sources by invoking journalistic ethics, and they could be considered as collaborating with potential saboteurs.

“We may charge the journalist who refused to reveal the sources.

“I am not joking. If I have 90% of evidence, I will charge journalist, editor, assistant editor and editor-in-chief. I am serious, not kidding. We have too much leakage of secrets in Malaysia,” Apandi said.

The A-G said this during an interview with Sin Chew Daily, where he also said the A-G's Chambers was considering amending OSA laws to include life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane as punishment.

Cynthia said today that the task of the A-G was crucial in shaping strong anti-graft laws in the country.

“Why then is the AG creating an impression that he is glossing over the sins of corruption?

“That the corrupt can roam free during his tenure?” Cynthia said.

She added that often the accounts given by witnesses and whistleblowers serve as an invaluable source of information which could give insights into the occurrence of corrupt acts and provide incriminating evidence to secure conviction.

She urged Apandi to review the OSA and make it a legal right for the public to obtain information on issues not related to national security.

Cynthia also said the Whistle-blower Protection Act should be strengthened to enable a protective and sustainable culture of whistle blowing in the country.