KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): The Witness Protection (Amendment) Bill 2026 proposes a clause allowing programme participants to receive one-off assistance, including financial aid or relocation, after the attorney general terminates their protection.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M Kulasegaran said the assistance can be used for housing, moving costs from the witness protection shelter to the new residence and school transfers.

"This assistance is meant to ensure that participants can go through the transitional phase safely upon exiting the programme. However, it is not a long-term or recurring form of support," he said during the second reading of the bill in the Dewan Negara on Wednesday.

Kulasegaran said the Witness Protection Act 2009 (Act 696) currently provides protection and assistance only while a person is in the programme, without any formal support mechanism after it ends.

The Witness Protection (Amendment) Bill 2026 aims, among other things, to empower the director general of the protection division in the Prime Minister's Department to provide necessary and reasonable protection and assistance to participants.

On July 14, the Dewan Rakyat passed the bill, which contains six clauses aimed at strengthening the safety, welfare and physical protection of witnesses who provide crucial testimony in serious criminal, corruption and high-profile cases, as well as improving the management of the witness protection programme.

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