Bribery? What Bribery? - MACC Fails Its First Test!

No MACC probe into RM300 offer to reporters

(NST) The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will not investigate the alleged RM300 "gift" to reporters covering the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election.

A commission official said no investigation paper would be opened as the reporters who said they received the money at a media centre there could not identify the giver.

The official also said as most of the reporters covering the by-election were outsiders and did not vote in the by-election, the motive for giving the money could not be ascertained.

He also said it was unfair to accuse Umno or the Barisan Nasional of paying off the reporters, adding that claims by the opposition that Umno had bribed the voters were untrue.

"Otherwise, Pas would not have won in the by-election."

BN candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh had denied he had anything to do with the claims of reporters who were allegedly given the money.

Two journalists from Chinese-language online news portal Merdeka Review lodged a report on the matter at the Terengganu police headquarters. It was reported that RM300 was distributed to more than a dozen journalists at the state information department's media centre.

The journalists were asked to list their names, the organisation they worked for and telephone numbers on a blank piece of paper by a media centre staff before being given a white envelope containing six RM50 notes.

The media centre staff could not answer when quizzed about the source of the money. The Information Ministry also denied making any payment to journalists.

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Honestly, did ANYONE expect any other response? I certainly didn't. The so-called independent and full-of-integrity MACC wouldn't even lift a finger to INVESTIGATE the allegations, much less bring the people responsible to book.

And such PATHETIC excuses offered for not doing anything..."you don't vote so there's no motive"? "Couldn't identify the giver"?

WHAT?!

Isn't the essence of investigation to find answers to such questions? Can't identify the person? A simple photofit would be able to identify the perpetrator. Publish his mug in the media and certainly the culprit will be ferreted out in due time. And the sick joke that there's no motive because the reporters were not voters - the FACT is, money was offered. Isn't it up to the investigators to ascertain the motive?

Anyway, all these pathetic bleatings is just pure BOLLOCKS! The reporters stated clearly that they perpetrators gave them the money in the hope that they would give favourable coverage to the ruling party. Isn't THAT motive? Besides, if there was no motive, why was money offered?

MY GOD! If based on the same logic, murder mysteries will not need to be investigated too! Find a dead body? Well, since the identity and the motive of the killer is not immediately known, so no need to investigate la! Is that why Razak Baginda got scot-free? By the same logic, it requires no stretch of the imagination to prophesy that both Azilah and Sirul will also get away with murder!

What really takes the cake in this whole fiasco is that the MACC DEFENDS the ruling party against ALL allegations of wrongdoing without even making any effort to get to the truth! They even actively ACCUSE the Opposition of lying!

OH...My...GOD...I think I'm going to hurl!!

Independent MACC konon. PODAHLAH!!