Rafizi prosecution wrong move, Singapore daily suggests

August 06, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Putrajaya’s move to charge Rafizi Ramli has only served to raise the PKR strategy chief’s public stature in the run-up to key national polls as it appears to run counter to the federal government’s pledge to combat corruption, a Singapore paper suggested today.

Rafizi was charged on August 1 with violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) in exposing confidential banking details related to National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp), in a case that has put whistleblower protection laws under greater scrutiny.

“Transparency International Malaysia has urged for whistleblowers to be protected as they ‘put themselves at great risk to their livelihood and career and also to their work, family and community relationships’,” Singapore’s Business Times reported today.

File photo of Rafizi (right) being led in handcuffs when he was charged with violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act on August 1, 2012.

The anti-graft watchdog has stressed that public perception of selective prosecution would prove damaging to Malaysia’s enforcement agencies in the fight against corruption, as well as being inconsistent with the purpose of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s denial of double standards, the paper reported.

The paper highlighted the different treatment the authorities accorded Rafizi when they handcuffed him during a pre-dawn arrest at his home before taking him to court and the man whose company he had exposed for alleged corruption in a RM250 million cattle farming scandal, NFCorp chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Salleh Ismail, who was left uncuffed to walk into court.

“Already, the prosecution of Mr Rafizi has only served to raise his stature in the eyes of the public,” the paper said in its article titled “Govt may be making the wrong move in charging Rafizi” published today.

Apart from his NFCorp expose, Rafizi has gained additional prominence after he went public with confidential Treasury documents showing an allegedly less-qualified consortium led by engineering firm George Kent, which he has linked to Najib, weeks before the government announced it as the winning bid for a lucrative RM1 billion rail expansion project in the Klang Valley. 

Rafizi has also accused Najib of interfering in the bidding process by awarding the contract to a close associate who owns George Kent.

The paper noted that Rafizi’s role in exposing financial mismanagement in companies linked to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government has raised his profile as among the young up-and-coming politicians in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact that could see a regime change in Malaysia for the first time since the nation gained independence 55 years ago.

“Should the 35-year-old accountant be fielded in the coming general election, he is expected to be a formidable opponent,” the paper said.

Rafizi has told The Malaysian Insider that despite the legal hurdles he will continue his revelations on alleged corruption in the government.

He faces two court charges for his exposes that could land him in jail and set him back millions of ringgit and a shot at a Parliament seat.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/rafizi-prosecution-wrong-move-singapore-daily-suggests/

Is cowing a whistleblower a good idea?

AUG 1 ― If not for his arrest today, one would only remember that Rafizi Ramli has been going at the Ampang LRT line extension project with hammer and tongs over its systems contract, insisting for months that it would go to the George Kent joint-venture despite the consortium failing both the technical and commercial evaluation.

And, of course, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd confirmed the contract said to worth more than RM1 billion has been given to George Kent, a water meter- and tank-maker whose biggest deal before was just RM40 million.

But that was up to yesterday.

Today, Putrajaya reminded us of Rafizi’s first explosive exposé ― that RM250 million in public funds was used to buy luxury condominiums and other properties instead of being fully invested in its intended use for a national cattle farm project.

This morning, the PKR strategy director was arrested and later brought to court over charges of violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) for exposing financial details of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), which runs the National Feedlot Centre (NFC).

The NFCorp is owned by the family firm of Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Only a court can decide if Rafizi has broken any laws when exposing the scandal that led to Shahrizat losing her Cabinet post after her senatorship was not renewed earlier this year.

But a few questions come to mind. The authorities took their time to investigate the NFC scandal despite alarm bells rung by the Auditor-General in his report last year.

The authorities have only charged Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail, with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating nearly RM50 million.

But what about the others involved? Or even allegations of money laundering in their quest to buy properties in Kazakhstan and Singapore rather than cattle from Australia?

Why the gentle treatment for the NFCorp owners and the witch hunt for whistleblowers who have exposed how public funds were abused?

For that matter, what use are whistleblower protections laws if those who provide information are instead hunted down and later charged in court?

Wouldn’t such action cow future whistleblowers? Or is this a warning to those in the civil service and government agencies to keep their mouth shut and not reveal the chicanery in their respective units?

This government is going down slippery slope by pursuing whistleblowers, especially a credible whistleblower like Rafizi, whose exposés in the NFC and Ampang LRT contracts have shown how public funds have been wasted for the benefit of the few. Especially with the prevailing view that the NFC culprits have been treated with kids gloves.

Rafizi became a hero today, thanks to Putrajaya’s missteps in handling the NFC and Ampang LRT extension project and, now, prosecuting him.

It would be little surprise if he wins the Pandan federal seat in the next general election, barring a quick judgment that he is guilty of the BAFIA offences.

And it would be even less a surprise that those who run Putrajaya now feel the anger of voters upset that a whistleblower is treated as a criminal.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/is-cowing-a-whistleblower-a-good-idea-the-malaysian-insider/