All eyes on whether MACC will act on answers Bala has given
Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
Pakatan Rakyat has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission not to waste key information painstakingly given by private investigator P Balasubramaniam, even though it might implicate Prime Minister Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and their friend Razak Baginda in the Altantuya murder and submarines graft case.
“We are all waiting to see what steps the MACC will take next. Frankly, I still see no signs at all or any will at all on their part to take concerted action. This is highly unethical as the MACC is sworn to act without fear or favour,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Stamped ‘Secret’
Lawyers for Bala had submitted his replies to a list of questions to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya earlier on Thursday.
Both counsel, Americk Sidhu and Manjeet Singh Dhillon, personally handed over a sheaf of thick documents notarized by a notary public in London, where the questions had been sent earlier this month.
But they declined to say what sort of questions the MACC had asked as the commission had marked the question papers ‘Secret’, which might make it illegal for them to divulge.
“As you can see, it (answers) has been all notarised in London by a notary public, but let’s see what happens first,” Malaysiakini reported Americk as telling reporters.
Malaysia has an archaic Official Secrets Act that been slammed by civil society leaders both in and outside the country as being a tool used by the government to suppress information that was unfavorable to it.
Indeed the stakes are high in this case. Bala’s personal safety and that of his family are at risk and they are now living in self-exile in India until it is safe to return home.
Just days ago, Manjeet’s laptop was stolen from his home. Before that, in November 2009, Molotov cocktails were hurled at his house. Despite the latest burglary, nothing else was taken, including his wife’s jewelley, sparking speculation that special branch police may have been involved.
