Aliran Media Statement
OSA - A Law that Protects the Corrupt?
Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor, the youth chief of opposition party Keadilan, was locked away for two years and the documents which allegedly exposed corruption and abuse of power by International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah and former Malacca Chief Minister Rahim Tamby Chik are safely locked up in some secret vault.
The Official Secrets Act is intended to deny the public information under the pretext of safeguarding public security. But the public know better. The only information that is kept away from the public domain is that which may be prejudicial to the interests of corrupt crony politicians.
Ezam's conviction has confirmed the existence of documents implicating two ministers involved in corruption, as he had claimed.
His conviction has proved that these are the documents he was referring to when he asked the authorities to take action against the two politicians for corruption.
Ezam's conviction has established that corruption is safe and protected by the Official Secrets Act. There is no other way of interpreting the charges brought against him for trying to expose corruption involving top-notch politicians or the price that he had to pay for trying to do a favour to society by highlighting the cover-up.
There is yet another reason for going after Ezam. The Barisan Nasional wanted to destroy him politically so that Keadilan will be weakened considerably. After all, a genuinely multi-ethnic opposition party would pose a significant threat to the BN's hegemony.
The two-year custodial sentence has effectively knocked him out of electoral politics for the next seven years. He would be disqualified from holding any position in any political party or society. He cannot stand as a candidate for the next five years after having served his sentence. In other words, he won't be able to take part in the next general election, due by 2004 but widely expected to be held earlier.
In any other society, Ezam would have been hailed as a patriotic citizen responsibly discharging his civic duty by exposing corruption. But here, under the OSA, he is punished for his trouble.
Aliran would like to challenge the Barisan Nasional to make public the documents Ezam exposed so that Malaysians can judge for themselves in what way they threaten national security or pose a danger to our common interests. We would like to know whether the government was justified in classifying them as government secrets.
Of course, we know that the BN would not dare take up this challenge. It would then confirm what is open knowledge: that the OSA is meant to cover up crony corruption, abuse of power and wrongdoings. As long as the OSA exists, it will remain a shameful piece of legislation, crafted by politicians only concerned about covering up their sins.
P Ramakrishnan
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