FORMER deputy chief executive officer of Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), the first individual charged under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, was freed by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today from the charge of causing a whistleblower who exposed his misconduct to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to be sacked.

Judge Suzana Hussin acquitted and discharged Wafiy Abd Aziz, 37, after finding that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused.

Wafiy was accused of taking action that harmed an informer, by provoking the EMGS chairman Abdul Rahman Mohamed Shariff to sign the termination of employment document against the employee, in retaliation for the employee’s exposure of his improper conduct to MACC.

He was alleged to have committed the offence at the EMGS office at Jalan Mayang Sari, Kuala Lumpur, on January 9. 

He was charged under Section 10(3)(b) of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711) and can be sentenced under Section 10(6) of the same act, which carries a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or a jail term of not more than 15 years or both, if convicted.

The trial began on April 27 last year during which the prosecution called 17 prosecution witnesses, including Abdul Rahman and EMGS CEO Shahinuddin Shariff. – Bernama, May 20, 2022.