Reveal details of probe into Teoh Beng Hock’s death, group tells govt

Reveal details of probe into Teoh Beng Hock’s death, group tells govt

The Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy says it is unacceptable that no one has been held accountable for the death under MACC custody 12 years ago.

Members of the Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy handing over a memorandum at the Bukit Aman police headquarters in 2019, calling for the investigation to be reopened.
PETALING JAYA:
A group dedicated to seeking justice for political aide Teoh Beng Hock has launched an online petition urging home minister Hamzah Zainudin and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani to release the investigation results into his death.

The Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy said calls on the IGP, attorney-general and the home ministry to reveal the investigation results had fallen on deaf ears, adding that it had been three years since the case was reopened.

Its chairman, Ng Yap Hwa, said this was unacceptable as no one had been held accountable for Teoh’s death when he was in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) 12 years ago.

“The pre-fall injury on his neck shows the existence of a criminal element in this high-profile death.

Teoh Beng Hock.

“Police should take seriously the verdict of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that one or more unknown persons caused the death of Teoh, including MACC officers,” he said.

Ng said the order by the attorney-general to investigate the case under Section 342 of the Penal Code in 2019 was implausible as it was a case relating to custodial death.

He urged the police to probe the case independently and professionally under Section 302 (murder) or Section 304 (culpable homicide), which would be consistent with the demands of Teoh’s family and many civil society organisations.

“We call on the government to stop delaying (this matter). Every effort must be made to track down the perpetrators through a thorough police investigation.

“The government must uphold the rule of law. No one should be spared in the investigation so that there will be no allegations of a cover-up,” he said.

In 2009, Teoh, who was the political aide to then Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after he was interrogated by Selangor MACC at its office on the 14th floor of the same building.

A royal commission of inquiry concluded that Teoh was driven to suicide by the aggressive interrogation methods used by MACC officers. It also blamed three officers for their aggressive methods, which it said had violated procedures.

In 2018, it was reported that police would comply with instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to conduct further investigations into Teoh’s death.

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