AN anti-graft non-profit organisation has commended the judiciary for its “bold decisions” to convict former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for corruption.
In doing so, the judiciary has reaffirmed the rule of law, asserted that corruption is a heinous crime and prevails against those who only seek to serve their own interests and held power to account, according to the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre).
“It (these decisions) should serve as a rallying call for the Government to reform the corrupt system and reinstate reforms and measures that would eliminate abuse of power and minimise the likelihood of cases like these recurring,” the group said in a statement last night (Sept 2).
It added that the impoverished state of schools in Sarawak has been “further maligned” by “Rosmah’s greed and desire for power”.
On Thursday (Sept 1), the High Court ruled that Rosmah had previously used her position to interfere with her husband’s affairs – as then-prime minister and head of Government – to influence and secure opportunities for self-enrichment.
Rosmah was found guilty of soliciting RM187.5 mil from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin as an inducement for the latter’s company to secure an RM1.25 bil solar hybrid energy project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
She was also found guilty of two counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM5 mil and RM1.5 mil from Saidi between April and August 2016.
Najib, meanwhile, was sent straight to jail after the Federal Court last month upheld his guilty conviction, 12-year-sentence and RM210 fine in his RM42 mil SRC International corruption case, following a four-year trial and back-to-back appeals.
Rosmah has not been jailed yet as the court granted a stay of execution pending disposal of her appeal against the verdict and sentence.
“Transparency and open scrutiny”
C4 Centre said it has long called for the processes in procurement and private contracting of large projects to be made transparent and open to scrutiny.
“The risk of corruption taking place on such a large scale could have been minimised if checks and balances were put in place, such as implementing an open tender process, publicly justifying the deliberations behind why only certain entities are chosen for a project or investment and making the accounts publicly accessible,” it explained.
The group added that such practices fall in line with the principles outlined in the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) – which Malaysia has ratified – particularly in reference to Article 9 on public procurement and management of finances.
Article 9 of the UNCAC stresses the need for transparency, the use of objective and predetermined criteria for public procurement and mechanisms for personnel involved to declare conflicts of interest, among others.
“The recent rulings by the judiciary over powerful personalities involved in high-profile cases and related scandals send a strong message for the need to reform a rotten system and also signals the coming of a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption that the institutions of many other nations have adopted.
“Our current Government seems to have forgotten that Malaysia has a National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) that puts forward recommendations for reforms, including a Procurement Act, stronger Whistleblower Protection Act and a Parliamentary Ombudsman, all of which are necessary to tackle corruption from all sides and most importantly, to prevent offenses related to corruption from taking place to begin with.
“All institutions must act in tandem in order to stamp out the ever-growing weeds of corruption from taking root,” C4 Centre said.
Moving forward, the group called on all corruption cases to be fast-tracked and deliberated at the trial stage without delay, the establishment of special anti-corruption courts and specialised training for judges presiding over complex corruption cases.
The Government was also urged to fast-track anti-corruption reforms and the establishment of independent institutions as per the NACP.
Meanwhile, Rosmah yesterday filed her official appeal against her solar hybrid project case conviction and sentence, according to Bernama.
She also appealed the decision of trial judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan to reject her application to disqualify him from hearing and deciding on the case. – Sept 3, 2022
Main photo credit: Reuters
