The home minister has asked for proof of allegations of collusion among the country's most powerful police officer, the attorney-general and an underworld figure in the cover-up of a corruption investigation.

Hishammuddin Hussein was responding to Malaysiakini ’s report yesterday on how a number of whistleblowers - whose information led to the arrest of Johor kingpin Goh Cheng Poh aka Tengku Goh in 2007 - had been forced to implicate six police officers investigating the case.

NONE "Prove it, prove it. If they prove it, we can take action.

"As I have always said, no one can place themselves above the law," said Hishammuddin ( right ) when met by Malaysiakini in the Parliament lobby today.

The six police officers investigating Tengku Goh were said to have been falsely charged with  fabricating evidence in 2007.

It has been alleged that AG Abdul Gani Patail, the then-IGP Musa Hassan and the kingpin were behind the move.

The policemen have eventually been acquitted, the last of them in mid-2011.

Gani had allegedly used the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to access confidential files on witnesses and then hunt them down and force them to change their statements to implicate the police officers with falsifying evidence.

With the informants having changed their statements, Tengku Goh was eventually released from restricted residence in Kelantan and allowed to return to Johor.

Ramli’s claims

The policemen were eventually acquitted, the last of them in mid-2011. One of them was former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Ramli Yusuff.

ramli yusuff and court judiciary police 011107 Ramli (right) , in a birthday speech on Feb 29, had levelled the allegations against Gani, who he said helped Musa to "fix" him and his men.

He had earlier said he suspected something was amiss in the ACA probe which he described as a witch hunt against him and his officers.

Malaysiakini had posted a special report in 2007 on the scandal, piecing together information on the goings-on involving the top echelon of the police force.

Musa Hassan has denied protecting Tengku Goh or conspiring with Abdul Gani to frame Ramli and his men, calling the allegations a tactic by those with an ulterior motive to create confusion.

gmi anti isa candle light vigil protest kamunting 070608 04 Meanwhile, Hishammuddin when asked for details about the new legislation to replace the ISA and other laws due to be repealed,  passed the buck to the AG.

"You have to ask the AG, he is drafting the bills."

However, the Sembrong MP pointed out that any law replacing ISA must address four shortcomings in the present Act such as the powers and length of detention, treatment of detainees and access to family members.

"Else it would just be a political exercise and not something meaningful," he said.

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