The different standards practised by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on which suspects should or should not adorn the bright orange detention T-shirts has left many tongues wagging, and it also encourages a degree of favouritsm or selectiveness in the eyes of the corruption busters.
This reflects the lackadaisical attitude of the agency in implementing its own policy. Either MACC has no policy, or its policies are at the discretion of individual officers. The proposal by Special Committee on Corruption chairperson Rais Yatim to address this issue is, therefore, laudable.
In fact, this same issue also exists with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) on who to wear the purple-coloured detention clothes.
In a number of cases involving VIPs and individuals with “Dato” titles, they are hardly handcuffed and require to wear the police detention clothes when they are brought to court for remand applications or criminal charges.
It is high time for both MACC and PDRM to discuss and formulate their policies that will determine the categories of suspects that are required to adorn the detention clothes and be handcuffed.
If any, the reasons that allow them not to be required to wear lockup clothes when they are in police and MACC detentions should be made clear to the public. If there is no one above the law, they must be given the same treatment when they are produced in court to be charged. Both the police and MACC should allow suspects of non-violent crimes who are yet to be charged with any offence to appear in their ordinary attires without handcuffs before the magistrates for remand.