These changes, he said, were important to address the perception of political prosecution.
“Whether or not there exists political prosecution is up for debate, but we can all agree that there is, at the very least, the perception of it. That itself is a problem,” he said at a forum called “Political Persecution Continues”.
The forum was held in solidarity with PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who was recently arrested for refusing to obey a police order to leave a restricted area following the Bersih 3 rally in 2012.
The first change Syahredzan proposed was for the AG’s complete discretion on those to be prosecuted to be counter-checked by the courts.
“Currently, under the Federal Constitution, the AG has complete discretion and this can bring about a conflict of interest as he is also the legal adviser to the government,” he said.
This brought him to the second change that he proposed, which was to separate the responsibilities of public prosecutor and the government’s legal adviser.
“There is clear conflict of interest when you put both responsibilities on one person’s shoulders.
“This is because you cannot be working for the government’s best interests on one hand, and then also have the power of the public prosecutor.
“It should be two different people,” he said.
The third change Syahredzan proposed was for there to be a security of tenure for the AG.
“If there isn’t a security of tenure, then there is the risk that he will do all he can to ensure his position is safe, which includes pleasing his ‘boss’.”
Syahredzan said the changes he was proposing were nothing new but that it was important to bring them up in the face of Batu MP Tian Chua’s arrest.
In an unexpected move last month, the MP withdrew his final appeal filed against his conviction and one-month jail sentence.
He said in his statement to the court that he had been arrested along with 500 other people during the Bersih rally on April 28, 2012 and was sent to the Police Training Centre (Pulapol), which was a restricted area.
“I was not charged with taking part in an illegal assembly but in connection with my presence in Pulapol,” he said, adding that he was detained in the police training academy that day.