OF late, there have been some calls by a civil society group and opposition politicians for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner and several individuals named in the Royal Malaysian Police to take garden leave while they are being investigated by an independent committee.

I’m referring to a letter by C4 that based its call on several tweets by an anonymous holder named Edisi Siasat (ES) which has been referred to as a “whistle blower”.

The MACC has of late been dogged by several cases involving its own officers in the past couple of months.

Three officers were arrested, first by the MACC for the abuse and mishandling of case items, and later, one of them were investigated by the police for firearms and drugs.

Last month, the police confirmed a report made against an officer for alleged maid abuse.

These incidents were also brought up by the twitter account ES, cases that were already being dealt with by the authorities.

They were claimed to be “exposed” by ES but if you check the actual chronology of events, you will see that they were not exposés.

These “revelations” of the on-going process give the false impression that ES is a whistle blower for the good of society.

Upon a little study of the ES twitter posts, it is easy to see through the copy writing that its goal is not the noble cause of exposing corruption, as it claimed to be, but is systematically geared to character-assassinate its targets.

ES uses carefully crafted lines repeatedly, connecting them to non-related facts to make it look as if they are connected evidence.

This is done by using inflammatory words and language with the devious intention to create doubts as well as to incite hate.

ES has a hidden agenda, but is so well covered up by its sensational exposes that one’s attention is diverted outwards towards the target.

This is a classic diversion in psychological warfare.

For example, ES uses photos from Facebook as “evidence” of the target’s family holidays overseas using “corrupt money”. Where is the real evidence?

Again, this is the cybertrooper style of creating fake news, connecting what we can see in public with devious suggestions so as to appear like a legitimate  claim.

ES also “exposed” several companies where the MACC chief commissioner is purportedly a shareholder, information that, to say the least, is already published on company annual reports for public viewing.

It’s not a big secret or a cover-up. It’s not against the law to hold shares in a company. But the copywriting of ES makes it seem like it is a heinous criminal activity.

How ES creates the illusion of its target as criminals without a shred of evidence, and itself as a hero, a whistle blower, is a game that should be studied by students of psychological warfare and black ops.

Things are just not what it appears to be. If ES is so confident of its sources, it should just come out clean and make a report to the relevant enforcement agencies of all the wrongdoings of its targets.

Instead, it chooses to hide like a coward behind the anonymous account. As the saying goes, “dare to speak truth to power” (or in Malay, “berani kerana benar”).

Oh, it can’t because certain members of the police force and in the MACC are already corrupt. How convenient an excuse, since it has already built up a story of corrupt senior officers that will not charge its own officers.

Looking at the facts, the reverse is true. Recently, the MACC charged two of its own officers at the Johor Baru Sessions Court for receiving bribes in cash to help resolve a case.

Unfortunately, readers who just reads on the surface can easily fall for its trap.

It is not surprising that civil society groups such as C4 had used that to intensify its call for the MACC chief commissioner to be suspended.

The fact of the matter is that every agency will have bent cops and officers. We are talking about a workforce of tens of thousands, and it will always have a few black sheep.

The police force and particularly, the MACC, have internal check and balances and also oversight monitoring bodies. And if the case is outside their jurisdiction, it is investigated by the enforcement agency that has the jurisdiction. This has been duly followed.

The real issue, however, is whether the agency or the government has taken due action against the wayward officers or were they protecting them?

If they have already taken action against the said officers, then they should be applauded and supported, not vilified and chastised.

The MACC should be criticised if it abuses its powers against others, not when it is actually taking action against its own staff.

Last week, parliament and law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar also asserted that the government is currently investigating allegations of corruption among several officials following the ES postings.

It has to be recognised that there is information that cannot be disclosed while investigations are ongoing.

As for the aspersions against the chief commissioner, I would like to see an actual police report made by ES against him for all the said allegations, and allowing the media to act as the third estate to ensure that there is no cover-up.

Anything less, is just casting aspersions and lies. – November 10, 2021.

• M. Zaidi reads The Malaysian Insight

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.