MACC’s probe on Nazlan can be seen as political interference, says Anwar

PETALING JAYA: The probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali (pic) could be seen as a form of political interference, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Opposition leader claimed that the integrity and freedom of the Malaysian judiciary was seen to be slowly recovering from decades of stagnation.

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“It is feared that such announcements (on the probe) could be considered as pressure and political interference,” Anwar said in a statement Sunday (April 24).

Anwar also criticised MACC’s investigation into Nazlan, saying that the judiciary has its own regulatory body.

“I want to stress that the judicial institution has its own regulatory body that governs and controls the integrity of judges.

“This was done to ensure there was a clear separation of powers in the present system.

“Therefore, the MACC’s interference has gone against this principle,” said Anwar.

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MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki had said investigations had begun into Nazlan over allegations of unexplained money in his account after reports were lodged.

Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the misappropriation of RM42mil of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

An article dated April 20 published by the blog Malaysia Today claimed that Nazlan was being investigated for an unexplained RM1mil in his account.

The article alleged that the money came in when Nazlan was the group general counsel and company secretary for Maybank.

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Nazlan lodged a police report against the blog on Thursday (April 21), denying the accusations which he said were malicious, baseless and aimed at tarnishing his credibility as a judge.

In a statement, the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia said a police report was lodged so that investigations could be carried out under Section 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, and other related provisions.