DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, today released the following statement.
DAP to test sincerity of the Barisan National Government by proposing amendments to the Prevention of corruption Act, 1961, to weed out corruption in high places.
In defending the Essential (Security Cases) Regulations, 1975, which came under repeated attacks and criticisms during the Third Malaysian Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur, the Minister of Law and Attorney-General, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusof said that at the close of the Law Conference that the new Regulations are an attempt to provide justice not only to the accused but to protect the public.
Tan Sri Kadir said: “To the average man a judicial system is efficient and served its inherent purpose only where it is possible for the judicial authority to arrive at the truth.”
This is very weal and flimsy argument to justify such far sweeping changes in the law as provided by the Security Cases Regulations, as shift the onous or truth to the accused, permit witnesses to appear in disguise and identity hidden, and other charges in the law of evidence as to make an accused denied of a fair chance to defend himself.
The DAP has decided to test the sincerity of the Barisan National Government that laws must be made to protect not only the accused but also the public so that the public and national interest are paramount.
It has become a fashion of late for Government Ministers to talk about fighting corruptions, which is no more than a publicity campaign without concrete results and actions in term of highly placed corrupt Government officers been charged, prosecuted and convicted in Court.
The Attorney-General himself had more than one said that corruption is one of the greatest enemy in Malaysia.
I have therefore given notice to Parliament when the Dewan Rakyat meet next Monday on 27th. 10.75, I intend to proposed amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1961, to provide for more effective legislative measures to combat and check the mounting scale of corruption in high places.
I propose amendingting the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1961, to make it an offence for any public officer, including Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, Mentri Besars, Chief Ministers, State Executive Members, Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen, who has amassed wealth, properties or pecuniary resources disproportionate to his known sources of income, punishable with a 7 year jail sentence or ten thousand dollars fine or both.
I also propose amendingting the Rules of Evidence with regard to such corruption charges to provide where a highly placed Government servant or political leader is proved to possess wealth, property or pecuniary resources disproportionate to his average monthly income than such officers shall be deemed to have acquired or received such wealth or property by corrupt means, unless he van prove.
Another amendment will provide for the confiscating or property or the value of the financial resources of an accused convicted of a corruption charge under the amendednted provisions.