Whistleblower’s arrest undermines anti-corruption drive, says Albert Tei’s lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The arrest and subsequent court charge against businessman-turned-whistleblower Datuk Albert Tei undermine efforts to combat corruption in government, says his lawyer Latheefa Koya.

She said Tei’s prosecution was unprecedented, as he was the individual who first exposed the alleged wrongdoing in the ongoing Sabah mineral exploration and mining licensing corruption case.

Latheefa said it was highly unusual for a whistleblower to be charged before the “big fish” officials allegedly implicated by his disclosures.

“It is extraordinary to hear that the whistleblower has been charged, despite exposing systemic corruption involving some of Sabah’s highest-ranking officials.

“How can we fight corruption if that is the attitude and policy of the current administration?” she said at a press conference outside the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex on Thursday (Dec 4).

She also questioned why Tei had not been granted whistleblower protection, unlike in other high-profile cases where alleged informants were protected to enable them to testify in court.

“Nothing in the law says that a whistleblower who may later be implicated cannot be given protection at the start of the investigation.

“Whistleblower protection can always be withdrawn or suspended later, but they cannot refuse to grant it at the outset,” she said.

Latheefa warned that the move would send the wrong message to the public.

“This gives the impression that those who expose corruption will be the first to be targeted.

“The MACC showed no urgency even though Tei had raised concerns about the Sabah scandal for years. There was no response. Yet, of the 14 individuals he named, only two were arrested — along with my client himself.

“Then suddenly, they raided his home and treated him like an ordinary criminal without explanation, almost as if they were trying to disgrace him through the arrest,” she said.

She questioned whether the action was meant as a warning.

“Are they trying to send the message that if you expose wrongdoing, the authorities will come for you, arrest you at gunpoint and parade you around? This is not how we fight corruption,” she added.

At the same press conference, Tei accused the Prime Minister’s former senior political secretary, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, of instructing him to record the Sabah assemblymen allegedly involved in the corruption scandal.

“He told me that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had ordered the recording of the Sabah assemblymen involved in corruption,” Tei claimed.

“I am not a politician. I am just an ordinary citizen. Without a big shark behind me, would I have dared to do it?

“So I just want to know: Has Anwar Ibrahim been investigated? Has he given a statement?

“They deceived me. That is why I continue to expose this. The more they pressure me, the more I will fight,” he said.

Tei added that the MACC’s actions sent a dangerous message to the public.

“It suggests that if you expose wrongdoing by powerful people, your fate will be like mine — so it is better to stay silent,” he said.

Tei was charged with several counts of graft involving more than RM176,000, for allegedly bribing Shamsul in exchange for mineral exploration licensing approval in Sabah.