Rafizi said would-be informants would be deterred from speaking out as they may suffer backlash from their superiors at work. ― Picture by Saw Siow Feng
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Informants won’t speak due to flawed Whistleblower Act, Rafizi claims
MalayMailOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 ― PKR lawmaker Rafizi Ramli asserted today that the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010 does not provide sufficient safeguards to would-be informants.
The Pandan MP said would-be informants would be deterred from speaking out as they may suffer backlash from their superiors at work.
“If there is a corruption within the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), the officer can only lodge a complaint about this at the Bank Negara Malaysia, Securities Commission, police and MACC.
“If I am the officer from MACC, I will definitely be afraid to reveal such information in my own place where the person whom I complain to can be my superior or subordinate," he told a news conference here.
Rafizi was responding to Nancy Shukri, minister in the Prime Minister's Department, who had earlier said that he was not granted protection under the law because he had openly revealed official secrets to the media.
According to Nancy, Section 6 of the Act states that an informant can only make a disclosure of improper conduct to an enforcement agency registered under the government.
She said Section 7 stipulates that an informant who makes a disclosure in accordance with the
Act’s provisions shall have his or her identity protected and shall also be granted immunity from civil and criminal action.
Rafizi was arrested outside Parliament’s gates on April 5 for revealing what he claimed to be an excerpt from the Auditor-General’s report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which had been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
On April 8, he was charged under the OSA and claimed trial to both charges under Section 8, which among others covers the wrongful possession of official secrets.
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