Fw: Last man to see Teoh: MACC threatened me / Another victim of MACC’s ‘racism’?

Last man to see Teoh: MACC threatened me / Another victim of MACC's 'racism'? You will not read this in the mainstream newpapers . Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Hwa, who was grilled by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday, today shed some light on the corruption watchdog's questionable interrogation techniques. Tan (right) said that the two officers who questioned him tried to extract false confession from him, pressuring him to deny that he supplied 1,500 national flags for a Merdeka function at the Sri Kembangan state constituency. During the interrogation, Tan said the officers used the 'good cop, bad cop' technique; initially being polite but later switching to verbally abusing him and making him to stand for four hours between 10pm to 2am. Tan was questioned on the same day Teoh Beng Hock, the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hean Wah, was also interrogated by MACC. According to Tan, he was threatened with physical violence, with one officer pointing to his forehead and allegedly saying, "You don't lie. This is my place. I can hit you. Believe me!" During interrogations, he said other officers would randomly walk into the room to mock his poor command of Bahasa Malaysia and used derogatory terms such as "Cina bodoh" (stupid Chinese) and asked him if he was a Chinese citizen. The worst intimidation, Tan said, were threats to his family which he described as "mental torture". "They said that if I don't 'tell the truth', they will take away my wife and there would be no one to care for the children. But I did not give in," said Tan, during a press conference at the Selangor state secretariat today. He was allowed to sleep on the carpeted floor and the interrogation continued the following morning. Teoh seen at pantry To top it off, when he was released the following day at about 1.30pm, Tan said he was asked by MACC staff not to make an issue over their interrogation technique. "But now, I cannot keep quiet because a life has been lost," said Tan, in reference to the mysterious death of Teoh. Teoh, 30, was found dead yesterday on the fifth floor balcony of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, nine floors below the Selangor MACC office, where he and Tan were questioned. Tan said that after he was told by the MACC officers that he was free to go, he was unaware of the fact that Teoh's body had been discovered. He subsequently left the building. Tan said the MACC raided his house on Wednesday evening without a warrant. He was then taken to the Selangor MACC headquarters at about 9pm. When asked, Tan said he did not know that Teoh was in the same building when he was brought there. The duo met only when Tan woke up at about 6am the following day while on the way to the toilet. "He was in the pantry. I greeted him, but he replied only with a 'Umh'. But when I came out of the toilet, he was gone. He did look a little tired," said Tan. The MACC says that Teoh was released at 3.45am yesterday but he chose to "stay back and sleep on a couch, where he was last seen at 6am." 'It sickens me to see that MACC is allowed to systematically harass and mentally torture opposition leaders and their aides...'. On Last man to see Teoh: MACC threatened me Distressed ordinary citizen: After reading about Teoh Beng Hock's death, I am left speechless with the injustice that has been done on an innocent man. I can only guess what he was made to go through after I read the Kajang municipal councillor's account of his interrogation. It sickens me to see that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is allowed to systematically harass and mentally torture opposition leaders and their aides whilst those in BN who had stolen billions of the rakyat's money can sleep peacefully in cosy bungalows built with ill-gotten money. What kind of country is this? What kind of government do we have that endorses cruel interrogation techniques for political gains? What kind of prime minister do we have who allows his deputy to try to squirm his way out of such a scandalous situation? They all have blood on their hands. The blood of Teoh. The blood of the rakyat who toil and labour to eke out a decent living, who have their hard-earned money taxed and then have those taxes used to finance operations like MACC. Decent-minded people cannot allow our government to continue holding on to power by such foul means. Let the rakyat never ever forget this. Let the rakyat not be fooled by the big-time public relations exercise going on now. This government has to go. Jeffery: Why Teoh? This is not the first time our country has heard of people falling from buildings - there were similar cases of Indian Malaysians who were held in police custody. Indeed, there were cases like Teoh's in the past but Malaysians were not interested because the dead were Indians. MACC officers are not as professional as our police and they have misjudged the importance of this guy. They thought he was just like any ordinary guy who was expandable. Yes, everything is expendable for the sake of national security according to the current system. MACC has apparently used racial slurs during their interrogation and Malaysians must stand for human rights in this country. Kayu Around: It is blatantly obvious that the MACC is only capable of flexing its muscles and wide powers and going after just fish fry - nothing more. Its officers cannot catch any bigger fish because that's the best they can do and show to the public. MACC boleh! On DPM appeals for calm Patriot: Muhyiddin, the corrupt DPM who tried to bribe Manek Urai's voters using our (public) money with a bridge, can go fly a kite. This is my most polite response to his appeal for calm. How can we be calm when our public institutions like the MACC, police and the judiciary, are being misused to prosecute the federal opposition, in this case hounding the aide of a politician to death. Go tell that to Nazri who after asking people not to speculate, jumped to the conclusion that the late Teoh Beng Hock had jumped to his death. On Stop fueling hatred against MACC Peter Ooi: Stop fueling hatred against MACC? This statement makes my blood boil till the mercury overshot the thermometer. Especially when it comes from none other than Khir Toyo. Khir Toyo said that when he was questioned by MACC his conversation with the officers were recorded on CCTV. I believe that Teoh's 'conversation' with the officers were recorded too. Why not Teoh's lawyers compare the nature of questioning with that of Khir Toyo and let us see whether they practise the same standard of questioning? Khir stated: "The difference is, BN politicians do not make MACC the 'scapegoat'". It makes me laugh! Khir Toyo, why should BN politicians make a scapegoat out of MACC? Tell me, so far did MACC ever net any high-profile politicians involved in scandals? Yes, small ikan bilis there are many caught. But those involving billions are enjoying the spoils with impunity. Ooop! Immunity. On Minister: Don't blame MACC S Vignesvaran: Nazri should resign for the betterment of the Malaysian people and country. He is so arrogant to make such an idiotic statement about the death of a young and responsible citizen. If he is saying that no one should come to a conclusion, I'm puzzled how he knew that Teoh jumped out of the building even before the investigation starts? If Teoh was not a suspect, why was he being held up until 4am in the morning? Why the MACC so eager to interrogate a person who was merely providing information, especially involving Pakatan members. If Teoh was a BN member, it will be a different story indeed. Another victim of MACC's 'racism'? PETALING JAYA, July 18 — Is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) racist? DAP member Dariff Din is buttressing that claim, saying today he was a victim of racial remarks by the body's interrogators looking into alleged misappropriation of state allocations by DAP state lawmakers. Dariff, who is assistant to Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San, is the second person to make the claim after Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah who made the same allegation yesterday. "They asked me if I was Chinese or Malay and I told them that I was Malaysian but they kept insisting on my race," Dariff told reporters at the DAP Paramount service centre when relating details of his interrogation on July 15 by MACC officials. He said they were mainly interested in his ethnicity rather than the case itself, adding the officer was curious because he looked Chinese but had a Malay name. He told them his father was Malay and mother was Chinese. "Everything went smoothly after they learned that I was a Malay Muslim," Dariff said, adding he was questioned about his background for another hour before they asked him how Lau's office spent the state allocations. The investigator went through all the files they seized from Lau's office, Dariff said, adding he was surprised the officer even asked if anybody had attended the programme even though there were photos to prove the event was not a hoax. "They told me that now there are computers, so the photos can be made," he added After the interrogation was complete, Dariff asked for the written statement but the officer refused and claimed it was against procedure and it was a secret. "How can it be secret when I made the statement?" Dariff asked, adding he was questioned from 4.30pm until 9pm that day. Dariff also asked the interrogator why he was being investigated when there are bigger cases like the PKFZ. "It is not our jurisdiction, it up to the head office. We are only Selangor," he quoted the officer as saying. Dariff added that he was allowed to roam freely in the office and claimed he saw Teoh Beng Hock being escorted to the back of the MACC office at 6pm. Teoh was found dead a day later outside the building. Lau has now instructed his assistant not to attend any interrogation in the MACC office until the investigation is complete and there is royal commission inquiry into Teoh's death as their personal safety is at risk. He said he believes the MACC has no proof but is fishing for evidence against opposition assemblymen and is using scare tactics to get them. Apart from Lau's office, the MACC officers also raided the service centres of Teoh's superior, Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah. They only introduced themselves as MACC officers and demanded Dariff go to the MACC office for questioning.