Raja Petra, P.Bala not categorised as whistleblowers, so no protection under act

(Bernama) — The operator of the Malaysia Today news portal, Raja Petra Kamarudin, and private investigator P.Balasubramaniam are not eligible for protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said these two individuals could not be categorised as whistleblowers under the Act as they had “exposed their identity to the Malaysian public, (and) to the world”.

“The identity of whistleblowers who provide information to the enforcement agencies should not be known to the public,” he said when winding up the debate on the Whistleblower Protection Bill 2010 in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.

Liew said based on the Bill, a whisleblower who revealed someone’s wrongdoing to other parties, including the media and blogs, beforehand would lose his eligibility for protection under the Act.

“This is to protect the complainant and the person being complained about before the investigation is carried out as the information given may not be true,” he said in reply to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) when he raised the issue during the debate earlier.

Liew said individuals found to have given false information would also not receive protection under the Act.

Offenders can be jailed for up to five years or fined up to RM20,000, or both, upon conviction.

The Bill was then passed. Earlier, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Educational Institutions (Discipline) (Amendment) Bill.

The sitting will continue tomorrow.