Anti-Corruption Agency gets prosecution powers
Jul 11, 08 11:00am – Malaysiakini
The Anti-Corruption Agency has been granted full prosecution powers which will allow the agency to open a case and proceed with it until the matter is brought before the court.
At present, the agency has to refer its completed investigations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to decide on whether the case could be taken to court.
This dramatic change – which will give the agency more bite and do away with the long-held complaints of its lack of independence – was announced today in a brief statement by the ACA in Putrajaya.
The agency said that this new move would allow it to efficiently and effectively investigate corruption cases.
This will also remove the negative perception that it was the AG’s Chambers that was delaying the prosecution of high-profile cases involving politically connected individuals.
The new powers will also boost the government’s image in fighting corruption.
“Indirectly this will increase the people’s trust in the ACA,” said the statement.
ACA also said that to implement the change, the AG’s Chambers will second a senior officer to be a director at the anti-corruption agency, giving him the powers to prosecute cases.
This officer will report directly to the ACA chief.
To become a full-fledged commission
The ACA’s announcement comes hot on the heels of the agency’s probe on both inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail for allegedly fabricating evidence in the trials of Anwar Ibrahim 10 years ago.
In April, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced that the ACA would be reformed and turned into a full-fledged commission in a few years.
Currently, the ACA is answerable only to the prime minister’s department while the proposed Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption would be answerable to Parliament committee which will be established.
