Friday 19 Apr 2024
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(Aug 6): DAP has challenged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to walk the talk and call up Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for questioning over the RM2.6 billion in his personal accounts.

Its national legal bureau chairman Gobind Singh Deo said MACC must show the people that it was serious in the probe and not betray the trust placed in them by the Parliament.

"They must do their job effectively without fear or favour.

"They must demonstrate that they are fair in their dealings with everyone and that they do not practise double standards," the Puchong MP said in a statement today.

He was responding to the anti-graft agency's statement last night that it would ask the prime minister to explain the money in his accounts, which MACC said was from a Middle East donor.

Gobind said MACC had acted immediately in the case involving just RM2,400.

He said MACC had then detained the late Teoh Beng Hock until the early hours of the next day, subjecting him to intense interrogation while denying him access to lawyers.

Teoh, a former journalist who worked for DAP's Selangor exco Ean Yong Hian Wah, was then found dead on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the Selangor MACC office in Shah Alam the next morning.

Gobind questioned what MACC was waiting for as it had already said it would ask Najib to explain the RM2.6 billion.

"There is no point in making public statements, which generate sympathy alone, and they shouldn't be afraid.

"The MACC is a creature of statute. It has wide powers, including powers of arrest and detention for the purposes of investigations.

"There are also provisions in place for the MACC to deal with those who interfere with its work. What then are they waiting for?" he said.

On Monday, MACC announced the RM2.6 billion in Najib's personal accounts were not from debt-ridden state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), but were a donation.

Yesterday, the anti-graft body said it has identified the donor from the Middle East, but did not reveal any name.

"We would also like to state that we would be calling prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give an explanation on the donation he received?," the agency said.

But MACC itself is being investigated by the police over alleged leaks of official information related to the probe into 1MDB.

Seven of its officials, including senior investigators, were hauled up by police for questioning.

The commission's special operations division director Datuk Bahri Mohamad Zin, who was also questioned, has denied that the leaks came from within MACC.

He said yesterday that MACC was only doing its job and had no time for politics, adding that he would "hunt down" those who ordered the arrests of his officers.

MACC has said it was only probing into SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider

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