A Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer said he conducted a search in Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah’s office without a search warrant.
Mohd Anwar Ismail said he had used Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act to search Ean Yong’s office at the Selangor state secretariat building and seize a central processing unit (CPU) and laptop.
“The MACC does not need a warrant,” Mohd Anwar told the Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
However, Commission chairman Federal Court judge Tan Sri James Foong and commissioner Datuk T. Selventhiranathan pointed out that Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act was only applicable during emergency situations.
Selventhiranathan said what Mohd Anwar did was an abuse of power as the search and seizure in Ean Yong’s office was not conducted in an emergency situation.
“You cannot grab like this. Anyone who has gone through a law course will know this is an exception and not a general rule,” said Selventhiranathan.
Mohd Anwar is a lawyer by training and had practised for several years before joining the MACC.
Teoh, who was Ean Yong’s political secretary, was taken to the Selangor MACC office on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam for questioning on July 15, 2009. He was found dead the next day.
Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar he was virtually emasculating the public prosecutor’s powers by proceeding under Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act.
He told Mohd Anwar that Section 31 was meant to prevent blatant search and entry.
Both Foong and Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar they wondered how MACC officers with SPM qualification would apply the Act, given his interpretation of it.
Mohd Anwar also told the Commission that Kota Alam Shah assemblyman and DAP lawyer M. Manoharan had asked to be allowed to speak with Ean Yong and Teoh in private and he had granted permission.
“He didn’t even have to ask you,” said Foong, adding that the Commission did not want the MACC to have more power than the police.
Source - The Star
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