Press Statement dated 9 December 2019
While this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated with pomp in Malaysia to manifest the new government’s effort to tackle corruption, we are cognizant that real reforms must be structural and holistic and are somewhat concerned to learn certain efforts are being thwarted by the resistance to change. One example is the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill which has been postponed for second reading.
Based on the complaints received by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) between 2013 and 2018, the enforcement sector emerges as the second highest in the list of sectors prone to corruption. This shocking truth demonstrates that Malaysia is in dire need of an independent commission to hold enforcement officers who commit corruption, misconduct, including abuses against people in custody, to account.
The considerable powers entrusted to law enforcement officers can be easily manipulated for private gain, as can be seen in the case of the former IGP, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (Khalid).
Read the full statement here.
