PETALING JAYA: Strengthening the Whistleblower Protection Act will encourage more civil servants and the public to come forward with information about corruption, say anti-graft groups.
Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) acting chief executive officer Pushpan Murugiah (pic) said the current Act does not provide assurance to potential witnesses.
He cited the implications of Section 6(1) of the Act, which outlined that “a person may make a disclosure of improper conduct to any enforcement agency based on his reasonable belief that any person has engaged or is engaging in improper conduct: Provided that such disclosure is not specifically prohibited by any written law”.
Pushpan pointed out that this meant the whistleblower could face criminal prosecution if the information revealed is under the Official Secrets Act.
“Section 203A of the Penal Code also criminalises public officials for revealing information obtained while executing their duties or functions,” he said.
The whistleblower, he said, would also not be accorded protection if they decided to go public with their information, or reveal the information to a third party, after disclosing it to the enforcement agency.
Amending these provisions, Pushpan said, would allow whistleblowers to come forward, knowing their safety and livelihood will be protected and that they will not have to deal with criminal prosecution or other detrimental actions.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr...
Home Office minister Jess Phillips has told MPs there are a growing number of cases of migrants making false allegations that they have been the victims of domestic abuse. She was asked about the ...