That was the question asked by the family of the late Tun Fuad Stephens who died in the plane crash.
And the public who downloaded and read the declassified report is also asking the same question.
The summary did not reveal anything of importance that could threaten the country’s national security or a public disorder.
The Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA), is a statute prohibiting the dissemination of information classified as an official secret.
The act defines an "official secret" as:
...any document specified in the Schedule and any information and material relating thereto and includes any other official document, information and material as may be classified as 'Top Secret', 'Secret', 'Confidential' or 'Restricted', as the case may be, by a Minister, the Menteri Besar or Chief Minister of a State or such public officer
The list of documents and information provided in the Schedule is extremely broad and it covers "Cabinet documents, records of decisions and deliberations including those of Cabinet committees", as well as similar documents for state executive councils including "documents concerning national security, defence and international relations".
Enacted and enforced in 1972, the Act entrenches a culture of secrecy in all matters relating to public administration.
It contains a very ample package of broadly framed prohibitions which effectively restrict or minimised the free flow of information from official sources.
The government holds the prerogative to withhold an expansive range of information from public view.
While safeguarding national security is a legitimate aim, the restrictions so far are a disproportionate response to the national security risks facing the country.
In particular, a restriction sought to be justified on the ground of national security is not legitimate if its genuine purpose or demonstrable effect is to protect interests unrelated to national security, including, for example, to protect a government from embarrassment or exposure of wrongdoing, or to conceal information about the functioning of its public institutions, or to entrench a particular ideology, or to suppress industrial unrest.
No person may be punished on national security grounds for disclosure of information if the disclosure does not actually harm and is not likely to harm a legitimate national security interest or the public interest in knowing the information outweighs the harm from disclosure.
Take the case of a politician who was charged and convicted under the Act for disclosing secret Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) reports to the media only for the High Court to reverse the conviction later noting that section 16A is “obnoxious, draconian and oppressive” and holding that it was, “void to the extent that it is in conflict with section 2 which allows only those so authorised to classify documents.
The classification of the report appears to indicate that injustice was done to Datuk Harris Mohd Salleh, who was then the Deputy Chief Minister who took over as the Chief Minister of Sabah when his predecessor was killed in the plane crash, who for the last 47 years had been forced to put up with insinuations on every anniversary that he may have had something to do with the Double Six tragedy.
Unfortunately, there is no penalty for misclassifying information and section 16A of the OSA attempts to place the decisions of even the most junior public official to classify a particular document beyond judicial scrutiny.
Since PM10 has taken the bold steps of declassifying the report, he should also take a step further in regards to the OSA such as,
1. The Act should be amended to impose a time limit on the classification of documents together with a compulsory review period,
2. The definition of ‘official secret’ should be rendered far more precise so that only documents whose release would pose a serious and demonstrable risk to a legitimate protected interest, such as national security, may be classified,
3. The class of persons qualified to classify information should be narrowed to the Minister and designated senior public officials,
4. An offence of wilful misclassification should be created to punish abuse of the classification procedure.
5. Judicial review of executive decisions on classification should be specifically provided for.
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