How can Fahmi call for probe by his own agency, lawyers group asks on PAS-linked poster
Lawyers for Liberty says it is a clear abuse of ministerial power.
(MalaysiaNow) – A lawyers group today said that Fahmi Fadzil was abusing his power as a minister in ordering reports to be lodged with an agency under his purview over a poster accusing him of instructing government-friendly parties to blame PAS for the recent cancellation of a music festival in Kuala Lumpur.
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said in a statement that it was a “conflict and a clear abuse of ministerial power that a minister has ordered or set in motion an enforcement authority under his direct control for an investigation over an allegedly libellous poster made about himself”.
LFL director Zaid Malek added that neither Fahmi’s communications and digital ministry nor the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was there for his personal benefit or use.
“Since it is the minister himself who publicly initiates the matter, it puts undue pressure upon the enforcement agency and affects the fairness of the investigation. This should have been obvious to Fahmi,” he said.
