PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 ― The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) needs Malaysians to protect the agency from any interference when carrying out its duties, its chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed said today.

In a special message read out by his deputy Datuk Mustafar Ali, Abu Kassim stressed the importance of independence in MACC probes, but also urged for aid from lawmakers and prosecutors for this to be achieved.

“For civil society and public, they must be the protector and our guidance to defend the anti-corruption institution from any interference which will affect its independence.

“For the lawmakers, regardless of their political differences, they must be united in helping us to create a truly independent anti-corruption institution and the last but not least, the prosecutors who practically in Malaysia play a role of taking charge of prosecution, shall be purely non-selective in their line of duty,” he added.

Abu Kassim was unable to appear at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference as he had to stay at home for medical recuperation, Mustafar had said before reading out the former's speech at the opening ceremony here.

In the same message, Abu Kassim said he had always told MACC officers to act without fear or favour, adding that the commission does not allow impunity when carrying out investigations.

"For that reason, the MACC officers are ready to sacrifice in upholding the public interest," he said, also noting that there is a need to act based on a case's merit.

Last month, the police arrested and questioned several senior MACC officers over an alleged leak of official information, drawing criticism of alleged interference in MACC's work and how investigators had became the target of investigation.

The police probes happened amid an ongoing MACC investigation on a RM2.6 billion "donation" deposited into the prime minister's account and a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd.

But the police denied the interference allegations and claims that it had received instructions to probe the MACC officers over the purported information leak.

The MACC has said it has not closed its case on the RM2.6 billion donation and the SRC International.