DAP demands lawyers presence at MACC interrogation

The DAP today demanded the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) allow lawyers to be present with witnesses during interrogations.

DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh said that witnesses should have access to their lawyers since they could now be hauled up to be questioned beyond office hours.

“Witnesses should have a right to counsel when giving statements (to the MACC).

“Lawyers should be present... simply videoing is not enough,” Karpal told The Malaysian Insider.

The veteran lawyer was responding to a report earlier today which quoted the MACC complaints committee as saying that it had proposed installing CCTV cameras in interrogation areas as part of overhauls to investigation procedures following the death of Teoh Beng Hock last year.

Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah had said they also proposed for the commission to study and adopt interrogation procedures practised by foreign agencies, such as Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

But Karpal remained sceptical about MACC’s reform initiatives.

“It is a (step in the) right direction but whether there will be proper implementation is another question.

“They should definitely study other countries and use it as reference models, that is the way to stay in the right direction,” said the Bukit Gelugor MP.

Meanwhile, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang dismissed the MACC’s efforts as not being enough to restore public faith in the law enforcement agency.

“This will not be sufficient in order to restore public confidence,” he told The Malaysian Insider via telephone.

The Ipoh Timur MP also demanded that the results of the Cabinet’s inquiry into interrogation techniques of MACC be made public.

“After the inquest was made to investigate Teoh Beng Hock’s death, an inquiry into interrogation techniques of the MACC by the Cabinet was supposedly done.

“What has happened to that?” asked Lim.

The Federal Court had on last Friday upheld an earlier court of appeal decision in allowing the MACC to conduct-round-the-clock investigations on witnesses.



comments


i would not trust or have confidence in killers in uniform - such evil is perpetrated by filthy leadership.

Just because the court see the need to have investigation after office hours doen't mean that a person should be subjested to an overnight interrogation. Even a machine can breakdown after long hours; more so a human?

There shoud be a time limit with beak in between and the witness should be allowed to say when to stop and come back another day. There should be no harassment or use of force to coerce any information. That's why a lawyer shoud be allowed.

For all those people who object to these humane demands, maybe they should be subjected to such an ordeal before they voice thier objection from their high horses.