Threat against lawyers, MACC’s utter contempt for the Constitution and basic legal principles
On 19 March, two lawyers, Latheefa Koya and Murnie Hidayah Anuar (who were representing their client, Shamsubahrain Ismail over the NFC scandal) were themselves served with a notice under section 30(i)(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009 for investigation under section 16(b)(B) of the Act (offence of accepting gratification). They are supposed to appear for questioning on 23 April at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.
Lawyers for Liberty
Once again the MACC has shown its utter contempt for the Constitution, basic legal principles and seems to operate in a realm of lawlessness.
On 19 March, two lawyers, Latheefa Koya and Murnie Hidayah Anuar (who were representing their client, Shamsubahrain Ismail over the NFC scandal) were themselves served with a notice under section 30(i)(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009 for investigation under section 16(b)(B) of the Act (offence of accepting gratification). They are supposed to appear for questioning on 23 April at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.
Such blatant harassment and abuse of power against the two lawyers who were merely discharging their statutory duties to represent their client is an affront to the right of a person to legal representation, a clear breach of the lawyer-client privilege and further designed to disqualify the lawyers from representing their client should he be charged.
Of course this particular incident is not an isolated case and now seems to be the standard operating procedure for the police, Securities Commission and MACC.
Enough is enough, Lawyers For Liberty has lodged a complaint with the Bar Council and we will be challenging the legality of the notice.
Watch out.
