Still reeling from the arrest of its officers for robbing a moneychanger, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is back in the spotlight today, with the widow of Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed complaining that her late husband had been defamed by the lawyer representing the commission.

NONE Maziah Manap said she regretted the action taken by MACC lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who has alleged that her husband had attempted to escape from the commission office to meet his friend - Wan Zainalabidin Wan Zaki of multinational Schenker Logistics - to ensure consistency in their statements.

"His (Shafee's) statement was distributed extensively to the media as if it is a fact. I am saddened and frustrated by this cruel act against my late husband and family.

"I want to set the record straight so the public can evaluate for themselves, as I cannot stand anymore that the MACC is trying to absolve itself from its responsibility for my husband's death.

"I have to sternly put my foot down and stress that the MACC lawyer's statement is not backed by evidence that was presented in the inquest, and it is merely an allegation made by them to involve a third party," Maziah said in a statement.

The offending statement, which was published in the newspapers, quotes Shafee as saying: "lt is obvious that the deceased intended to escape for a while in order to warn Zainal (Ahmad Sarbaini's friend Wan Zainalabidin) and to make Zainal's intended testimony consistent with his."

Maziah said the submission made by Schenker's and Wan Zainalabidin's lawyer clearly shows that:

  • There is no evidence that her husband is involved in corruption.
  • There is no evidence for him to be frightened and run away.
  • There is no foundation to the basis for MACC's theory that Sarbaini had wanted to warn Wan Zainalabidin to ensure they gave consistent statements.
  • The alleged admission by Sarbaini is made to cloud the issue.
  • The apparent deletion of the CCTV recordings for 22 hours, which was verified by witness ASP Fauziah Che Mat, is an attempt by MACC to hide the actual facts.

Wan Zainalabidin had testified under oath that being a reputable multinational company, Schenker does not believe in offering bribes to government personnel.

NONE He also said its staff were warned by the management not to do so.

Maziah said she is hoping for justice for her husband as the verdict of the inquest is scheduled to be delivered on Monday.

"It was recently revealed that three MACC officers were caught for robbing a moneychanger on Sept 15 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. However, it is only reported this week.

"Why does the MACC try to hide this fact until it was highlighted by the alternative media where else my husband's matter was extensively publicised."

"I want those responsible for his death to be held accountable. Only then the word ‘justice' has meaning for us."

Submission by Schenker

Meanwhile, a further nine-page submission/clarification by Schenker and Wan Zainalabidin's lawyer Nadia Marni Mat Zin, which was made available to Malaysiakini , says the allegation made by Shafee in his submission had put their clients as well as the deceased and his family in bad light.

“It has tarnished Schenker's reputation as a corporate company in Malaysia and also its standing worldwide. We want to make a clarification as the contemperoneous statement is not supported by evidence adduced in the inquest and seems to be the MACC speculation,” it says.

Schenker and Wan Zainalabidin appointed lawyers from Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill in the inquest to hold their watching brief.

raja petra shafee abdullah sedition case 150808 04 The MACC statement or submission by Shafee ( right ), they say, was improper and not fair as it prejudiced Ahmad Sarbaini, Schenker and Wan Zainalabidin, who were never suspects.

“Evidence adduced did not show that Sarbaini is involved in corruption alone or together with Wan Zainalabidin. In fact, MACC witnesses verified that the deceased does not have wealth or extraordinary assets and all the assets owned by him and his family had been verified.”

According to the MACC witnesses, the submission says, Sarbaini gave good co-operation and did not show any sign of fear in as those suspected of corruption. The witness had said the deceased denied being on the take from any freight forwarding agent and documentary evidence presented in court did not show such evidence of corruption.

The submission further says Sarbaini's first cautioned statement did not have any mention of Schenker and it was only brought up in the second cautioned statement, and even then the authenticity of it is under question as he (Sarbaini) had clarified that Schenker was not involved.

“The MACC had never troubled or conduct checks on Schenker as its name was not involved at all in the 3B programme,” says the document, which was produced by Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill.

Reject MACC theory

Even testimonies by investigating officer Abd Ghani Ali showed there was no involvement of Schenker or evidence related, it says.

The submission also states that there was evidence the MACC officers said Sarbaini was not under its detention or custody, and hence there was no reason for the him to run away.

“All the MACC witnesses also testified that within that time, all access card systems in the building had been terminated and hence anyone could enter or leave without any problems. Hence, Allahyarham could have left from the third floor, without going out through the pantry window, which is small and quite high.

“This puts the MACC allegation of him running away through the pantry to be a theory, which defies logic and should be rejected,” it adds.

It says there was no purpose for Sarbaini to meet Wan Zainalabidin by running through the pantry window as there was no evidence of corruption between them.

 

Furthermore, it adds, since Sarbaini was not under the detention or custody of the MACC, he could walk away freely. There was also no evidence that the graft commission wanted to record a third statement from the deceased.

“With this, we called on the coroner to reject the MACC theory as it is not based on facts and the evidence of the witnesses,” it says.