Phone tapping is the issue, not PKR-Umno pact, says Zaid

 

Zaid Ibrahim says there was no crime committed in the purported conversation between Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Anwar Ibrahim.

PETALING JAYA: A former law minister has drawn attention to the problem of phone tapping and the infringement of privacy raised by a leaked telephone conversation purportedly between Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim said current debates must move beyond the topic of a possible cooperation between Umno and PKR.

“The people in the country should not get too excited about Zahid talking to Anwar because there’s nothing wrong with that. They’re not plotting anything illegal.

“The real issue is whether our conversations are being tapped. It is most unsettling and worrying and it should not be happening.”

He said an ordinary phone call cannot be tapped unless authorities had reason to believe that a serious crime was being committed.

Noting that Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador had previously urged Zahid and Anwar to lodge a report for investigations to begin, Zaid said the police should have started investigations earlier.

He said the police had enough authority to open up an investigation paper, regardless of whether a report was made.

“When I was charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act, no one had lodged a report. It was Bukit Aman. So, this idea that you cannot investigate unless there is a report is ridiculous. It is rubbish,” he said.

Home minister Hamzah Zainudin has said his ministry would investigate the authenticity of the clip, while police have begun investigations after several reports were made, and sent a copy of the recording to a forensic laboratory to determine its authenticity. It is not known if the police are focusing on finding the person who tapped the phone or on identifying the people in the conversation.

Both Zahid and Anwar have denied being involved in the audio recording. The conversation allegedly took place after Umno’s annual general assembly last month and gives the impression that the two leaders are working together.

Privacy lawyer Foong Cheng Leong told FMT that the power to intercept communications was normally only exercised in cases involving serious offences such as terrorism or organised crime.

He added that phone tapping can only be carried out with permission. For example, interceptions for cases under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 must be authorised by the public prosecutor.

On several claims that the government was behind the purported leaked audio recording, Foong said that no one knew for sure if the authorities had tapped the conversation.

“There could also be a possibility that the phones were compromised by the installation of certain mobile applications,” he said, referring to phone hackers.

If this were true, Foong said, there may be an offence committed under the Computer Crimes Act 1997, adding that there could be a cause of action for invasion of privacy or trespassing, among others. - FMT

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