Zaid Questions Macc Narrative On Malaysiakini Journo S Arrest

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Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has raised questions over the MACC’s narrative behind the arrest of Malaysiakini journalist B Nantha Kumar.
He questioned why Nantha would “sell himself” for just RM20,000 to shelve incriminating articles about alleged immigration crimes after spending so much time working on such stories.
Zaid (above) cited the journalist’s previous work, including giving the names of suspected “big fish” alleged to be masterminding a medical visa and counter-setting syndicate to the Home Ministry.
“In light of his well-publicised background making accusations of high-level civil servants’ illegal involvement in foreign workers’ recruitment, it’s hard to see why the MACC’s first instinct was not to protect him but instead to detain him, not the ‘agent’.
“Is it possible that Nantha was ‘baiting’ the agent for more details but never had the intention to solicit money?” he asked in a social media post today.
Arrest after exposé
MACC arrested Nantha late on Friday.
It came just a week after Malaysiakini published an article by him detailing how a former Immigration Department officer, who is now a “Datuk”, is the mastermind behind the new Pakistani cartel responsible for smuggling migrant workers into Malaysia.
MACC chief Azam Baki denied that the arrest was over the article.
Instead, he alleged that Nantha had solicited bribes from an agent who dealt with migrant workers in exchange for not publishing two articles about the agent.
The agent then alerted the MACC, which led to a sting operation in which the graft buster alleged Nantha was caught accepting an RM20,000 bribe.
“How was it that Azam believed the agent’s story almost immediately and yet had to detain Nantha for four days for questioning? Is this how a professional MACC works?” Zaid asked.
“While the interrogation is not over, Azam was able to say that Nantha was asking for RM20,000 to hide the story,” he added.
Zaid said that the MACC must be placed under scrutiny and their work evaluated.
Release Nantha
Earlier, Azam told Berita Harian that the MACC did not discriminate in its investigations, after backlash urging the graftbuster to focus on probing the agent, civil servants, and politicians involved in graft.
In a separate statement, Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture group representative Charles Hector also questioned whether the MACC was investigating the crimes exposed by Nantha and Malaysiakini.
Madpet group representative Charles HectorHe also called for Nantha to be released.
“He could have been released and asked to appear when need be for the purpose of the investigation.
“After all, Najib Abdul Razak and others were never detained in lock-ups for the purpose of investigations. Immediately release Nantha and continue investigations without detention,” he said. - Mkini

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