KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki has demanded a public apology and RM10 million from the whistleblower in his stock trading scandal for alleged defamation.
Free Malaysia Today reported that Lalitha Kunaratnam has been served a letter of demand that also sought the removal of two articles titled “Business ties among MACC leadership: How deep does it go? (Part 1)” and “Business ties among MACC leadership: How deep does it go (Part 2)”.
Azam gave Lalitha 14 days to comply, failing which he would initiate defamation proceedings against her.
Lalitha earlier shared a copy of the legal notice by the MACC chief’s lawyers in a tweet, to which she said, “thanks”.
Former MACC advisory board member Edmund Terence Gomez called Azam’s letter of demand an act of intimidation, telling him to withdraw the notice immediately as Lalitha had raised a legitimate question of national interest.
“What Azam should be doing is to publicly disclose all his business interests in order to protect the image and integrity of the MACC.
“If whistleblowers were threatened by those in a position of power, how can we make any progress to get citizens to expose corruption, and protect them for doing so?” he said.
Yesterday, Azam said in a press conference he had willingly given his brother permission to buy shares using his share trading account and had already given an explanation to the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (LPPR).
Azam added that he has decided to take legal action against those who have tarnished his reputation, although he did not divulge further details such as who would be named in his suit.
