YOURSAY | 'When the judge acquits the accused, MACC must accept and respect the due process.'
MACC 'very shocked' by Guan Eng's acquittal
Fair Play: The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) dropped the charge against DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and the High Court judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail granted the acquittal.
It's case closed, unless the prosecution decides to appeal, which is unlikely. MACC’s dramatic reaction is just a distraction.
Bob The Builder: MACC should not have made such a comment on the AGC's decision to withdraw the case. MACC's role is to investigate, not to pass sentence on cases investigated, so making that comment was uncalled for.
Cogito Ergo Sum: Prosecutorial powers lie with the AGC. Is the MACC aware of the Federal Constitution?
It is obvious that whoever issued this statement is ignorant of the Constitution and powers vested by it. The person or persons responsible for this statement must face disciplinary action for being ignorant of the law that he or she is supposed to uphold and execute.
It's quite obvious why the 1MDB probe is taking so long. The civil service is seriously eroding the Pakatan Harapan government's efforts at stamping out genuine cases of corruption.
The commission must withdraw this statement and apologise to the AGC immediately.
Dingy: Why was it an offence to buy a property at allegedly below market price? RM2.8 million is a lot of money. The buyer didn't pay cash for it. He took a bank loan.
Furthermore, he had rented the same house for five years at RM5,000 per month before he was offered to buy it. Was it also an offence to sell your own property at below the market price?
The purported offence occurred under Umno laws. But we are now under the rule of law. Hence the charges were dropped and the defendant acquitted.
Malaysian-United: Even today a lot of property owners are disposing their houses at below market prices but above or at par with the purchase price.
Some even sell slightly below the purchase price. Unless Lim bought the house at a ridiculously low price that creates suspicion, what's the big deal? It's a free market, after all.
Not Convinced: The issue is not Lim buying a property below market price. The issue is whether in so doing the seller, businessperson Phang Li Koon, received favours in return from the then Penang chief minister.
If the prosecution cannot prove it conclusively, so be it.
FairMind: How could MACC be shocked at this when there are hundreds of thousands of cases, especially related to the previous administration, including Bank Negara, Felda, Mara, state properties and so on, that are grossly overvalued or undervalued to the tune of millions of ringgit?
Does MACC have the time to go after all these cases, or does it intend to selectively decide who to prosecute accordingly? This is manufactured or selective shock by the MACC.
Vijay47: MACC, your unhappiness is understandable since the acquittal has a direct bearing on you.
Yes, MACC may have undergone leadership changes lately, but the fact remains that the charges laid against Lim by you were founded on flimsy, highly questionable evidence, and you, as an institution, went along with your political handlers.
Your distress now is somewhat perplexing as you previously did not display much concern for enforcement against corruption by other political leaders.
Can you name a single Umno bigwig whom you took to court? Sorry, what's that you say, Umno leaders are all pure and virginal, even the married ones?
Any action against Malaysia’s ambassador to Bali? And of course, the other withered feather in your cap, the Teoh Beng Hock case. Remember him, the poor soul who was blown off the famous 14th floor by a sudden gust of wind?
Ericlcc: When it comes to billions, nothing moves even for years, for example in the case of the 'White Rajah' in Sarawak.
And now all it took was a High Court judgment on the bungalow case to shock MACC from their slumber.
Jefferson76: I'm shocked that a certain ex-Federal Territories minister hasn't been charged yet. In fact, there has been no news at all after more than 100 days since you were to have begun investigating him.
Causerie: I am also interested in the late Umno ex-minister Jamaluddin Jarjis' RM2.1 billion estate. It could make him the top 10 wealthiest persons in Malaysia. I wonder if his taxes reflected this wealth.
Ferdtan: Exactly as many commented, who in MACC issued this statement of shock? MACC's job is to investigate, and the investigation papers are passed to the AG, and that ends the MACC's role.
This case, including many cases like sedition cases of a few then-opposition leaders, had been reviewed and then dropped, obviously due to the political (persecution) nature of the said cases.
MACC chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull, did you issue this statement? It is important because the person involved is not an ordinary person; he is our senior minister, the finance minister.
His credibility and that of the nation's depend on this black mark being put to rest, one way or another. If there is more evidence, come out to state it. If you are right, you would be the hero; but if wrong, you would face the law.
Anonymous 2439891477538802: MACC needs to behave like a law-abiding agency. When the AG drops the charges and the judge acquits the accused, MACC must accept and respect the due process.
It should consider the possibility that the investigation was done based on a weak legal basis and inadequate evidence, which are grossly insufficient to secure a conviction.
MACC should avoid conveying the impression that its response is remotely motivated by political considerations.
Cocomomo: Relatively, this was a petty irrelevant case. We are shocked that for years, millions to billions flowed around with hardly any charges made by the MACC, let alone a conviction.
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