Saturday, April 12, 2008

ACA to adopt intelligence-based investigation method

PUTRAJAYA: The Anti-Corruption Agency hopes to adopt the “intelligence-based investigations” approach with the aim of being more effective in the criminal justice system.
ACA deputy director-general I Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed said the approach had been successfully adopted in several countries.
“We have to go beyond our current method of investigation and adopt this new approach, where the information is gathered and placed in a systematic manner,” he said, declining to elaborate on the details.
Abu Kassim said previously, the agency relied on the public to lodge a report before commencing investigations, while some people had volunteered information but refused to go to court.
“We took this into consideration and began exploring other methods on how ACA could revise our work culture so that corruption can be identified more easily and the offender brought to court,” he said.
On the new form for ministers and deputy ministers to declare their assets, Abu Kassim said various format had been looked into and the best option would be presented to the Prime Minister by the end of the month.
“We have already completed it and it requires some fine tuning,” he said.
Last week Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had directed ACA to find out the practice of asset declaration in other countries to ensure Malaysia could come up with a proper way of doing it.
On the public perception towards the judiciary, Abu Kassim said many judges were of high integrity but several incidents might have created a negative view of the judiciary.
Overall, he said, the judiciary ranked quite high in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International between 2005 and 2007 compared to several other countries.

Karpal: Make it easier for converts to renounce Islam

PETALING JAYA: Converts who want to renounce Islam should be given an easier course of action in the process, says lawyer Karpal Singh.
He said in a statement that while he lauded the Government’s move to introduce new regulations for those wanting to convert to Islam, it was more important to address this issue.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday a regulation requiring non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam to inform their family first, so as to prevent any disputes when they died.
Karpal Singh said that no obstacle should be placed in the way of Muslim converts who wished to return to their original religion.
“As the position stands, converts are required to resort to the Syariah Court to renounce Islam, and are further required to undergo rehabilitation,” he said.
He called for the Government to relax the requirements of this move, adding that that there was considerable concern and disquiet among converts on the issue.
The Star

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