KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7, 2009 – As the inquest into the death of a Selangor government political aide drags on with no clear end in sight, his grieving family’s frustration is fast turning into fury.
This is especially over the latest reported remarks made by the chief commissioner of the national anti-graft body, which many believe to have had a hand in pushing him over the edge.
The family of the late Teoh Beng Hock denounced the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan for publicly insinuating that the 30-year-old political secretary had committed suicide because he “could not withstand the pressure”.
Teoh’s younger sister, Lee Lan noted that Ahmad Said had told Chinese-language daily, Sin Chew Daily, earlier this month that he had been informed of 10 cases of people jumping from buildings after being investigated by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) since its set-up.
The MACC, formed in January this year, was modelled after the ICAC.
“He also said that if people investigated could not withstand the pressure and jumped from the building, there was nothing that they (MACC) could do,” Lee Lan told The Malaysian Insider, repeating her statement to reporters last Saturday after saying prayers for her brother at the Seck Kia Eenh Temple in Malacca.
“If the MACC continues to make irresponsible remarks which cannot be substantiated with proof, we are prepared to go and see the Prime Minister again to urge him to immediately set up a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate into Beng Hock’s cause of death,” she added, speaking for the rest of her family.
The family scored a meeting with Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his Putrajaya office on July 28.
“No stone will be left unturned in finding out the real cause of death and, if there is any foul play, action will definitely be taken,” the PM promised them then.
Lee Lan, who was the closest of three other siblings to Teoh, challenged Ahmad Said to answer three questions:
1. Who saw Beng Hock jump from [the] MACC building?
2. Beng Hock was classified as a witness in the investigation, what pressure would he have faced?
3. Will MACC’s interrogation method bring about pressure on the witness or suspect to cause them to jump to death?
Teoh was found dead outside the MACC’s Selangor office in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam on July 16, the same day he was to register his marriage to his pregnant sweetheart.
He had been interrogated overnight by MACC investigators probing claims that his boss, first-term Selangor DAP state lawmaker and executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, had unlawfully dipped his fingers into state funds.
The inquest will resume tomorrow after a one week break.
Tsu Koon tells MACC chief to be more sensitive
Ahmad Said was quoted to have said that in the history of the Independent Commission for Anti-Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong, there were a total of 11 suicides of suspects and that there was nothing that the ICAC could do about it. “Although this may have been a statement of fact with respect to the ICAC, an open comment by the MACC Chief at this juncture when the inquest is on-going could be construed and perceived as suggesting that suicide might have been the cause of Teoh’s death, while the inquest has not come to any conclusive judgment,” said Koh Ahmad Said was quoted to have said that in the history of the Independent Commission for Anti-Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong, there were a total of 11 suicides of suspects and that there was nothing that the ICAC could do about it. “Although this may have been a statement of fact with respect to the ICAC, an open comment by the MACC Chief at this juncture when the inquest is on-going could be construed and perceived as suggesting that suicide might have been the cause of Teoh’s death, while the inquest has not come to any conclusive judgment,” said Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon. COMMENTS: I would like MACC to elaborate on these few questions and see if the number of death under ICAC is conclusive for the death of Teoh Beng Hock! How was the method of interrogation of HK's ICAC similar to MACC? MACC Officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus had testified there was only an interview and not interrogation. So what pressure was Ahmad Said talking about? Knowing that there were 10 suicide cases of death under ICAC because of "pressure" from investigation, why MACC did not take precaution to safeguard the safety of Teoh Beng Hock until he left the premises??? Out of the 10 cases of death under HK's ICAC, how many cases were death at the building of ICAC and it covers the span of how many years to produce the statistic of 10 suicide cases? How old is MACC to produce 1 death in custody of MACC? Why there were 1 known DNA of "Male 1" on the belt of Teoh Beng Hock which has not yet been identified? I highly suspect the DNA sampling of MACC Officers could be "switched" or "replaced" with other unknown people during the transit to the chemist lab. I strongly suggest to call for international DNA experts to extract the DNA sample from all the MACC Officers one more time in the presence of the lawyers for both parties of Teoh's family and MACC. The mystery letter still contains sufficient evidence to investigate further by independent Commission of Inquiry.
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