World Whistleblower Day: Don't persecute those who tell the truth, says TI

Summary

• Transparency International calls for whistleblower protection in conjunction with World Whistleblower Day.

• This follows the AGC’s decision to prosecute the whistleblower in the Sabah corruption scandal.

Transparency International sent a strong message today calling for protection for whistleblowers.

“Whistleblowers should be protected, not persecuted,” the NGO said on its Facebook page today, in conjunction with World Whistleblower Day.

The call comes amid growing concerns over Malaysia’s treatment of corruption informants, highlighted by a controversial case involving the Sabah mining licences scandal.  

Just last week, lawyer Mahajoth Singh took MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki to task, criticising the latter’s interpretation of Malaysia's Whistleblower Act 2010 over the said scandal, involving his client, who only goes by “Albert”.

This is after Azam’s statement that the agency will charge the businessperson who exposed the Sabah mining licences corruption scandal, after he was found to have actively participated in the corrupt transactions.

Albert will be charged in Kota Kinabalu on June 30.

‘Whistleblower by definition’

Mahajoth, however, stressed that his client fits the definition of a whistleblower as per Section 2 of the Act, as he had made disclosures of improper conduct to an enforcement agency.

He said that if the MACC’s interpretation of the law is to be followed, the said Act should then belong in a trash can.

“There is no ambiguity. My client clearly satisfies these statutory requirements and is, by definition, a whistleblower under the Act.

“MACC’s claim that Section 11(1) of the Act does not accord protection is a fundamental misreading of the law. Section 11 of the Act addresses the revocation of protection, not the granting of it.

“To date, my client has not been accorded any protection under the Act, despite clearly qualifying for it and despite having been led to believe otherwise.

“This raises an obvious question: How can protection be revoked under Section 11 of the Act when it was never granted in the first place?” the lawyer asked.

‘Govt now discouraging whistleblowing’

Adding further, Mahajoth pointed out that Section 11 of the Act was also discretionary in nature, where MACC can make a judgment call whether to revoke a whistleblower’s protection or otherwise.

He said there is also nothing in the law that mandates the prosecution of a whistleblower.

Instead, he added, the Act was designed to foster a safe environment for whistleblowers to come forward and disclose improper conduct to a law enforcement agency.

According to Mahajoth, the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ decision to prosecute his client was not only legally questionable but also strategically damaging as it sends a message to the public that they may still face criminal charges when they come forward with evidence of corruption.

“MACC’s handling of this case now paints Malaysia as a country that discourages whistleblowers and protects entrenched wrongdoings,” Mahajoth said.

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