Saturday May 12, 2012

MACC quizzes Fernandez for 90 minutes over Post report

PUTRAJAYA: Tenanganita executive director Irene Fernandez was questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on her stand that Malaysia is not a safe place for migrant workers.

Fernandez said she told MACC that migrant workers were regularly confronted by enforcement agencies such as Rela and were asked for documents.

“When the workers ask enforcement agencies for identification, they are slapped and beaten for asking that question.

“They are searched and money is taken from them. This is what I told the MACC,” she said yesterday at the MACC headquarters here after a 90-minute interview with the commission. The MACC was seeking details regarding her interview with The Jakarta Post, which was reproduced by several Malaysian dailies.

In the report, Fernandez had claimed, among others, that Malaysia was not safe for Indonesian workers because it did not have a legal framework or specific law to protect migrant workers.

It is understood that the commission was interested in the bribery accusation and was hoping that Fernandez could provide them with details.

Fernandez said in the interview with the MACC, she cited six cases as examples of corruption involving enforcement agencies dealing with migrant workers.

She said the workers were unable to identify them because the officers refused to reveal their identity.

In Petaling Jaya, Selangor MCA said it wants police to investigate Fernandez’s statements.

Its Public Complaints Bureau chief Datuk Theng Book said that if her claims were baseless, then the police must investigate her for making seditious claims.

More News