In her application, Pamela Ling had challenged MACC’s alleged use of its act and the anti-money laundering law to “exert pressure on Ling to resolve private disputes with her estranged husband, rather than for legitimate investigative purposes” Sangeet Kaur Deo said.
In a statement, Sangeet said Ling also claimed that she had been arrested and remanded without proper legal basis and in breach of due process.
She was also subjected to travel restrictions without explanation, Sangeet said.
Sangeet added that Ling was questioned on “no fewer than nine occasions”.
“Available records show that MACC subjected Pamela to a sustained and systematic campaign of pressure over several months,” she said.
She said the travel ban, imposed since October, and the repeated questioning, reflected treatment that was “far from ordinary and totally inconsistent” with that expected of a witness assisting in investigations.
She also said that after “relentlessly” pursuing Ling, MACC was now silent on her disappearance.
“How is it that an agency so invested in her whereabouts has now chosen to say nothing about her disappearance? No public statement has been issued on the circumstances of her last scheduled attendance,” she said.
Earlier today, the New Straits Times quoted MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki as slamming those who claimed that the agency had not accorded Ling adequate protection before her disappearance.
Azam said it was unfair to blame MACC for her disappearance, and that the incident “was beyond our control and occurred on a public road, not within the MACC compound”.
Ling’s brother, Simon, claims that his sister was abducted. He said the e-hailing car in which Ling was travelling was intercepted by three unidentified vehicles, and that she was instructed to get into one of them.
Yesterday, the e-hailing driver who had been taking Ling to the MACC headquarters on April 9 said he was forced to mark the ride as completed after Ling was taken by her abductors, who were wearing police uniforms and vests.
On Monday, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the cops had not ruled out the possibility that Ling’s abduction was partly orchestrated to discredit MACC and the police.
Yesterday, Razarudin said police were focusing on the possibility that her husband and several other individuals might be involved in her disappearance.