Hasanah sues MACC and Malaysian government

KUALA LUMPUR: Former director- general of Malaysia External Intelligence Organisation ( MEIO) Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid has sued the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( MACC) and the Government of Malaysia for denying her the right to counsel when she was held under remand for investigations into alleged abuse of power and misappropriation of government funds for the 14th General Election (GE14).

Hasanah filed the originating summons through Messrs Azam Aziz Shaharudinali & Co. on Aug 30, and named the MACC and the Malaysian government as the respondents.

Her lawyer, Datuk Shaharudin Ali, when met after the case management before High Court judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi yesterday, said that Sept 24 was set for the court to hear the originating summons.

Hasanah is seeking a declaration that the notification letter issued by the MACC under Section 28A (8) (9) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) prohibiting the appellant from seeing her lawyer while being held under remand contravened Article 5(3) and Article 8 of the Federal Constitution. As such, she claimed that Section 28A of the MACC Act was invalid, null and void and could not be enforced against her.

Through a supporting affidavit, another lawyer of Hasanah, Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, said the legal firm had learned about Hasanah’s arrest by the MACC on Aug 28 and her family had instructed the lawyers to attend the remand proceedings at the Magistrate’s Court in Putrajaya on the following day.

The lawyer claimed that one way to learn about the grounds of Hasanah’s arrest was to see her personally at the lock up before the remand proceedings.

However, Mohd Khairul claimed that a notification letter under Section 28A (8) (9) of the CPC was served to the legal team during the remand proceedings, denying the woman the right of access to counsel.

He said Article 5( 3) of the Federal Constitution stated that when a person was arrested, he or she shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his or her choice.

Hasanah was remanded for six days from Aug 29 to facilitate investigations into the abuse of power and misappropriation of government funds for the GE14.

She was released on MACC bail on Monday. — Bernama