PETALING JAYA: Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has slammed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner for dismissing outright harassment claims made by two lawyers against the anti-graft body and for purportedly making false allegations of his own about one of them.
“Azam Baki claimed that lawyer Lai Chee Hoe is being investigated for ‘embezzlement’ and abuse of power for his role as the former chairman of the joint management committee (JMC), which was the subject of their investigation,” LFL director Zaid Malek said in a statement.
However, Zaid said Lai was never the chairman or a member of the JMC.
“Lai was merely acting as JMC’s lawyer at the material time.
“In his haste to deny wrongdoing on the part of MACC, the chief commissioner totally failed to even ascertain the true facts of the case.
“This throws into doubt the entirety of the chief commissioner’s denial of wrongdoing by MACC in this case,” he added.
Zaid also said it was “unacceptable” for Azam to deny the lawyers’ complaints without inquiring into their allegations.
“This suggests that MACC is not interested in finding out the truth or the real facts of the matter. Every public complaint must be fairly and impartially looked into,” he said.
He claimed that when Lai was in custody, the questions asked and statements recorded by MACC were extensively about a legal case which the lawyers were involved in, “blatantly contrary to lawyer-client privilege which is protected under Malaysian law”.
“MACC cannot now deny this as the statement recorded from the lawyers is a public document which can be disclosed in due course,” he added.
Zaid urged the government to step in and ensure that a proper inquiry is conducted over the lawyers’ allegations, to assure the public that it will not tolerate harassment and intimidation against lawyers for carrying out their duties on behalf of their clients.
Lai and Irwin Lo told a press conference yesterday that they were investigated by MACC in their capacity as lawyers for a building’s management committee in a strata management case.
Lai, who was remanded by MACC for three days from June 6, claimed an MACC investigating officer told him they were conducting a probe into a member of the management committee and that he was detained because he represented the committee in its civil suit.
In an immediate response, Azam denied the accusations and accused the duo of defaming the anti-graft body.
He said the investigation was into the management and maintenance accounts maintained by the committee and did not concern their capacity as lawyers for any client.
“This is not an issue of MACC interfering with the public’s rights to legal representation,” he said.
