KeADILan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor today challenged International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz to get confirmation from the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) that it did not investigate her for corruption.

He was commenting on Rafidah's statement during a Parliament session yesterday that the bumiputra share allocation made to her son-in-law, Fazrin Azwar, was based on a recommendation by the company, Leader Universal Holdings Bhd, and she had nothing to do with the allocation and should not be accused of nepotism.

"There is already a report in ACA that there is a prima facie case to prosecute her for corruption in connection with her involvement in the allotment of shares to her son-in-law," Ezam told malaysiakini.

Rafidah had told Parliament regarding the ACA reports that "nobody knows what is in the secret documents. We will wait and see. Only the police know what is in the documents. And the subject matter of the documents is not something we should be discussing in Parliament."

However, DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang said that Rafidah was being "disingenuous" when asked yesterday about the recommendation of ACA that there was prima facie case to prosecute her.

"Rafidah is wrong as the issue of the allocation of shares to her son-in-law and the recommendation by the ACA are the very issues which should be discussed in Parliament," he said in a statement.

And Ezam felt that she should be more honest with herself. "As a minister, she should take the initiative to ask the ACA to clear her name. If there had never been an investigation, why hasn't she taken the step?" said Ezam.

Ezam was arrested last month for disclosing classified ACA reports at a press conference last November in connection with its investigations into Rafidah and former Malacca chief minister Rahim Tamby Chik.

In a previous report by malaysiakini,[#1] Some are more equal before the law[/#] (Jan 22), Lim had asked why Rafidah and Rahim were not also arrested.

Ezam is the first political leader to be charged under the Official Secrets Act after it was amended in 1986, which imposed a mandatory one-year jail sentence. The case will be heard in June after the Umno election in May, which Ezam claimed that his "case will be discussed after Rafidah has been elected (assuming she wins the contest) as Wanita Umno chief."

Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim had lodged a police report on July 9, 1999 charging interference with justice by the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Attorney General Mohtar Abdullah in shielding Rafidah from being prosecuted in court on five corruption charges.

Anwar had referred to a document of the Prosecution Division, Attorney General's Office, dated March 14, 1995 signed by Abdul Gani Patail, which was handed to him when he was deputy prime minister by Mohtar towards the end of 1995.

The document stated there was prima facie basis to prosecute Rafidah, on five counts of corruption under Section 2(2), Ordinance 22, 1970, Anwar claimed in his police report.