KUALA LUMPUR: Anti-graft activist Lalitha Kunaratnam has given a statement to police over their investigations into her series of articles about Tan Sri Azam Baki on the share trading issue.
Speaking to reporters outside Bukit Aman on Thursday evening, Lalitha said she spent about three and a half hours with investigators there.
"I met the police officer at around 2.25pm.
"I am currently being investigated under Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 and Section 505 of the Penal Code," she said, adding that a police report was lodged by a Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission officer on Jan 7, a day after she received the letter of demand.
She said she was asked 83 questions by the police.
"I answered them to my best ability and the officer handling my case was very professional.
"My statement was about 15 pages long, that is why it took so long," she said.
Her lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon said they would leave it to the police to investigate.
"Let the police investigate according to the law," he said.
When asked, Manjeet said his client was not shaken up and was just tired.
"She's just tired, three and a half hours is a long time sitting in front of the police," he said.
It was reported that Lalitha was standing by her series of articles.
“Notwithstanding the letter of demand, Lalitha stands by the articles she wrote and their contents and reiterates that the analysis therein is based on facts and information contained in, inter alia, the database of public records, regulatory reports and corporate financial filings," said Manjeet on Sunday (Jan 9).
Manjeet said the MACC must have no role in independent investigations of the matter, citing a police report by MACC assistant commissioner Mohan Munusamy on Saturday (Jan 8).
Azam had served Lalitha with a letter of demand last week over the series of articles published on portal Independent News Services (INS) and also demanded a public apology.
Speaking about the issue on Wednesday (Jan 5), Azam said his brother had used his trading account to buy shares in the open market and financed the purchases on his own.
It involved substantial amounts of shares bought from Gets Global Bhd and Excel Force MSC Bhd between 2015 and 2016 when Azam was the MACC director of investigations.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that the government would allow investigations by the Securities Commission (SC) to be completed before it decides to take any action.
