KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar will initiate legal action against public officers who interfered in investigations into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Its president Steven Thiru said the Bar was mandated under the Legal Profession Act to uphold the law. He said one possible action was the tort of abuse of power or misfeasance in public office.
“This is an action against those in authority who abused their powers for an ulterior or collateral purpose,” said Steven at the end of the Bar’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) at a hotel here.
He said the end result could be a court declaration that powers were abused to subvert justice and an order to restrain individuals from further interference as the recent actions against individuals involved in probing 1MDB were widely perceived as interfering in investigations. He cited the dismantling of the Public Accounts Committee, the removal of the former Attorney-General, the former Special Branch director and the recent transfer of his deputy.
He said actions against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Bank Negara Malaysia personnel had also raised public concern. He said the Bar had not come to any conclusions on guilt or innocence.
“All we are saying is public officers should not interfere with investigations that concerned them,” he said.
A resolution calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate financial impropriety concerning 1MDB along with the transfer and flow of money into the personal account of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was among five passed at the EGM.
Steven said a total of 1,040 members attended the EGM and the resolutions were passed overwhelmingly after robust debate.
BY NEVILLE SPYKERMAN, The Star