PETALING JAYA: Bersih has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the attorney-general’s chambers (AGC) to expedite the graft probe concerning human resources minister V Sivakumar.

Its chairman, Thomas Fann, said the authorities have to hasten their investigations to find out whether there’s any abuse of power with regards to the recruitment of foreign workers involving the Batu Gajah MP.

“When a political leader is involved, the MACC and AGC have to be quick to wrap up the investigations and determine if he needs to be charged to minimise political polemic.

“If the MACC has concluded its investigations, then the AGC must inform the public whether Sivakumar has breached the law,” he told FMT.

MACC had investigated three of Sivakumar’s aides and recorded the minister’s statement. The trio were detained for four days before being released on April 17. One of them was subsequently suspended from duty.

There were also calls by some quarters for the minister to go on leave pending the investigation but Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that was unnecessary as Sivakumar was only being called to have his statement recorded and he had yet to be charged.

Fann said if Sivakumar is charged, then he has to resign to focus on clearing his name.

(First published by Free Malaysia Today on 30 April 2023: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/04/30/expedite-sivakumar-linked-probe-bersih-tells-macc-agc/)