NEWLY minted chief commissioner Latheefa Koya has done away with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s infamous orange t-shirt printed with the words “SPRM Lokap” that its detainees are required to wear.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight at her office at MACC headquarters in Putrajaya today, Latheefa said the garb has been scrapped and suspects can attend remand hearings in their own clothes.

“We have done away with it. We still have the t-shirts if they choose to wear them but they must tell us in writing that they want to wear them,” she said.

This is one of Latheefa’s first decisions since taking charge of the anti-graft agency last month.

The former lawyer-cum-activist said this is because those held in remand were only suspects who have yet to be convicted of crime.

“We believe that they are innocent until proven guilty. This is not their court case, so we will allow them to wear their own clothing when they go to court for remand hearings,” she said.

Former Felda chairman Isa Samad, Penang exco Phee Boon Poh and Parti Warisan Sabah chief Shafie Apdal are among the politicians who have donned the t-shirt to attend court.

Some were outraged when former prime minister Najib Razak was not made to wear the t-shirt when he was arrested and brought to court by the MACC.

MACC is required to produce the suspect in court when applying for a remand order.

Usually, a suspect is remanded when investigators need to question the suspect further or gather sufficient evidence for prosecution.

Suspects may be handcuffed when brought to court. 

Latheefa said a decision has also been made regarding the handcuffs but declined to say more.

“There will be an update about it soon.”

She said today she did not realise that MACC employed investigation and interrogation methods that were even more sophisticated than the police’s.

“MACC has gone through tremendous transformation over the years. Its interrogations are very sophisticated. It’s far more sophisticated than what I’ve seen in police lock ups.

“MACC has gone through a major transformation,” she said, adding that the change was a direct result of the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock.

“They have had a major shake-up to fix things.”

She said she hopes to improve communications to change the negative public perception of MACC’s questioning methods.

“There’s a gap in communication, I hope to rectify that. We want to improve on rights of detainees to access their lawyers and provide sufficient break times.”

Before taking on the MACC chief’s post,  Latheefa was an outspoken activist on issues of unlawful arrests, misuse of power, and detention conditions. 

Latheefa was appointed MACC chief with a tenure of two years on June 4, replacing outgoing chief Mohd Shukri Abdull.

She is the first female MACC chief and the first candidate without an enforcement background to fill the position.

Latheefa, 46, quit PKR upon taking up the post. – July 8, 2019.