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©Malaysiakini (Used by permission)
by Andrew Ong

Reveal the source of the ‘VK Lingam’ video or go to jail. This is the ultimatum given by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to two PKR members.

PKR vice-president R Sivarasa and party worker Sim Tze Tzin were both served notices today to reveal the source within seven days.

Sivarasa said he would discuss the matter with party officials and legal advisors before deciding on the next course of action.

“If we have to take the punishment to protect our source, so be it,” he told reporters after receiving the notices at the Federal Territories ACA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The notice stated that failure to comply with the demand would be a breach of Section 29 (c) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

Under Section 58 of the same Act, offenders would be liable to a fine of no more than RM10,000 or a two-year jail term.

The video, released by PKR on Sept 19, shows senior lawyer Lingam purportedly having a telephone conversation with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim about ‘fixing’ judicial appointments.

Following this, Sivarasa lodged a report with the ACA urging them to investigate the details in the video.

Similar to 'nude squat' probe

However, the PKR vice-president said today that the ACA appeared to be skewed towards investigating the complainant and the source of the video clip.

Sivarasa, a practising lawyer, said it would be more logical for the ACA to first probe the two individuals implicated in the video.

He warned that such tactics would erode public confidence in the ACA and discourage the public to file reports with the agency.

“We made it clear to the ACA that we were disappointed that the purpose of their investigations has deviated from investigating the (alleged) offences in the video,” he said.

Sivarasa compared the ACA’s current bid to the attempt by the police to seek out the culprit who filmed the infamous ‘nude squats’ video in 2005.

“Both videos showed offences being committed. So I asked the ACA what is the meaning of their investigation when the offence shown in the clip is not being investigated,” he added.

Up till now, it is uncertain if the ACA had called in Lingam or Ahmad Fairuz. The latter, however, has denied being on the telephone with Lingam in the abovementioned video.

The government has also appointed a three-man panel to look into the authenticity of the video.

Tomorrow, the ACA would be recording a statement from PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

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