Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru today demanded a stop to attacks on key institutions investigating the 1MDB scandal and called for them to continue their probe without interference.

Thiru, in a hard-hitting speech at the launch of Legal Year 2016, said 2015 had seen challenges faced by a number of institutions investigating the troubled state-owned fund.

"We see the sudden transfer of officers and arrest and detention of MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) officers. This constitutes a subversion of the administration of justice.

"We call upon public institutions to be allowed to assert their independence and not bow under pressure. There is rising public fear of a possible cover-up.”

He stressed that those held accountable for wrongdoings should be brought to justice. If not, it would lead to severe crisis of confidence, he warned.

Thiru noted the investigations centred on funds entering the prime minister's private bank accounts.

Besides the action taken against MACC officers which saw one arrested and detained and his laptop seized and home ransacked, Thiru named the action taken against Bank Negara officials, the transfer of two MACC officers to the Prime Minister's Department and the derailing and delaying in the Public Accounts inquiry on 1MDB as other disconcerting matters.

“This should not have happened and must never happen again in the interests of Malaysia,” he said.

The Bar president was representing the views of the Malaysian Bar that included representatives from the Sabah Law Association and the Advocates Association of Sarawak.

He was voicing the concerns of the legal fraternity over disturbing developments in the past year.

Thiru also said all these actions had given rise to public inference that investigations into 1MDB were being curtailed.

“It has further caused irreparable harm to the standing of the affected institutions in the public eye. The intimidation and harassment suffered by them are widely seen as a subversion of the administration of justice,” he said.

He added that the Malaysian Bar will convene an extraordinary general meeting to condemn the interference and obstruction of justice and will strongly propose the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

“These institutions are undoubtedly critical to a functioning democracy and must not be undermined. The rulers had also issued a timely statement regarding 1MDB investigations; their concerns should be heeded,” he added.

Thiru also expressed concern over human trafficking on Malaysian soil where last May, the country was shocked by the discovery of 139 graves of victims of alleged human trafficking at 28 death camps in Perlis, bordering on Thailand.

“On June 3, last year the New Straits Times disclosed a staggering 80 per cent of the nation's security personnel and law officers at the Malaysian borders are corrupted. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no public denial of this report.

“This alarming expose of blatant corruption and other serious crimes that implicate our border enforcement agencies demonstrate the commodification of human lives and point to serious human rights violations.”

He added that seven months have passed since the discovery of the death camps and the shocking allegation of corruption in the NST report, but till today not a single arrest was made.

“The horror of the death camps is a belated wake-up call to the government to urgently address the scourge of corruption and to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards corruption that has been condoned and become rampant. The dignity of life must not be jeopardised as a result of corruption,” he said.