Rafizi's conviction among reasons for M'sia's drop in CPI ranking: TI-M

KUALA LUMPUR: The recent conviction of lawmaker Rafizi Ramli for whistle-blowing is among the reasons that affected Malaysia's global anti-corruption scores.
Malaysia dropped to 62nd place for the 2017 rankings among 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 55th in 2016.
"The reason is simple. The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue, SRC, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) scandal and also the conviction of Rafizi for whistle-blowing," Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar said today.
Presenting the annual global score, he said the major concerns among others are impunity where thefts of public funds are unpunished, unresolved cases of 1MDB, absence of political financing law and corporate liability provisions in the anti-graft laws.
"It is very sad that a whistleblower always gets arrested and punished here when most of the other countries have tried to enact whistle-blowing laws to protect the country.
"Here we are at the opposites. If you don't comply to the whistle-blowing policy and use media to expose corruption then you are not protected.
"This is a crucial area that should be relooked if we are serious in fighting corruption," Akhbar said.