‘Tangkap Azam Baki’ placard raised during Azam Baki speech at WTC KL, three activists reportedly detained

SHAH ALAM - A keynote address by Tan Sri Azam Baki was briefly disrupted today after activists were seen staging a protest during an event at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

The incident occurred during the Wacana Ilmiah Perdana programme, where the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner was delivering his speech.

The three men allegedly entered the hall holding placards bearing the words “Tangkap Azam Baki”, referencing an ongoing activist campaign calling for action against the MACC chief.

Tensions escalated when one of the individuals shouted and moved towards the front of the stage, briefly interrupting proceedings and drawing the attention of security personnel.

The three men were later identified as Hamdin Nordin, who is also linked to the Liga Rakyat Demokratik, Ahsanul Akmal and another known as Fakhrurrazi.

Mandiri Executive Director Amir Hadi confirmed that three individuals were arrested.

"They are now still at WTC. Waiting for Dang Wangi (district police) to pick up to bring them to the district police station," he said when contacted.

The trio, he said, were carrying out a peaceful, silent protest demanding “reform of the MACC and a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on alleged corporate mafia issues”.

In a statement shared on social media, Mandiri called for their immediate release.

Authorities have yet to issue an official statement or confirm the arrests at the time of writing.

The event resumed shortly after the disruption, with security tightened within the hall.

The calls for Azam’s removal as the MACC chief commissioner have intensified as his tenure approaches its May 2026 expiry, fuelled by a fresh wave of shareholding controversies and allegations of institutional "weaponisation".

Critics and civil society groups point to reports of a "Shareholding Scandal 2.0" involving millions of shares in Velocity Capital, which many argue exceeded the permitted investment limits for public servants.

However, Azam has denied these claims, asserting that the shares were purchased transparently in early 2025 and disposed of by July 2025 at no profit.

He maintained that all transactions were proactively declared through the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) and has since filed a RM100 million defamation suit against Bloomberg, describing the reports as "malicious and misleading".