MARCH 3 — Section 29(3) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694) empowers an officer of the MACC who has reason to suspect the commission of an offence under the Act following a report made to the MACC or information otherwise received by him, to cause an investigation to be carried out.
For the purposes of the investigation, the officer may exercise all the powers of investigation provided for under the Act and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
Curiously, there is no specific power of arrest for the purpose of investigation under the Act. However, that should not be an issue since the MACC officer may exercise all powers of investigation under the CPC.
It is inevitable that a person can be arrested for investigation when a report is made to, or information is received by, the MACC against that person.
The arrest of that person is part and parcel of the MACC’s investigation process. (See the case of Manikavasagam a/l Sundaram v Astro Awani Network Sdn Bhd [2020] MLJU 1949)
Accordingly, arrest by an MACC officer can be made without warrant as Section 49(1) stipulates that every offence under the Act “shall be a seizable offence” for the purposes of the CPC.
Section 23(1)(a) of CPC allows an arrest without warrant of “any person who has been concerned in any offence committed anywhere in Malaysia which is a seizable offence under any law in force in that part of Malaysia in which it was committed or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned”.
In short, an arrest without warrant can be made if there is (i) a reasonable complaint, or (ii) credible information, or (ii) reasonable suspicion against a person.
General view of the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya June 21, 2019. — Picture by Choo Choy May
So, it is curious that PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan should say that the MACC should focus on investigating media reports about corruption involving foreign worker agents and immigration department staff, rather than arresting a journalist for allegedly soliciting and receiving a bribe from an agent.
A lawyer by training, Takiyuddin also questioned the MACC’s decision to arrest the journalist based solely on a report from a foreign worker agent who claimed that the journalist had solicited a RM100,000 bribe from him.
If there is a reasonable complaint or credible information or reasonable suspicion against the journalist, then there is a legal duty on the part of the MACC to investigate, pursuant to which an arrest is “inevitable”.
Every allegation of corruption should be investigated without exception.
Let the MACC do its job and fulfil its legal duty under the Act.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
