Four Things Najib can do on Teoh’s 7th Day

by Wong Chin Huat

Teoh Beng Hock does not need flowers from PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak, note attached in Chinese: “Heaven envies talent”.  Don’t blame Heaven for his death. Some earthly beings have caused his death after a torturous 11-hour interrogation.

Teoh’s death is anything but an “act of god”. It is neither natural nor purely accidental. He died after a lengthy interrogation without his counsel present. This is an established fact now, which needs no any commission or panel to verify.

It is unlikely that the MACC officers did not find out during the marathon interrogation that Teoh was to tie the knot with his fiancée the very next day. Yet, they kept drilling the bridegroom-to-be from 5 pm to 3.45 am.

MACC chief Ahmad Said had the guts to disown responsibility for Teoh’s untimely death even before the body was buried. Whatever you say about it, however you spin it, no official denial, no fanning of ethnic sentiments, and no white-wash can wipe off the anger and grief most Malaysians feel for his family, his fiancée and their first child she now carries.

Read More  :

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/wong-chin-huat-on-teohs-death/

THERE IS MANY A TRUTH IN THE PARODY

MALAYSIA TODAY

So the heat was on. Friday was the dateline. They wanted Tan Sri Khalid and his team arrested that same day. And they would have to use force if necessary to get Teoh to say what the MACC wanted him to say to meet this dateline.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Some of you may think that the MACC Downfall Parody video is in bad taste. I mean, how can we make fun of Teoh Beng Hock’s death when we should instead be mourning him? Yes, it was a hard decision to make as to whether to publish that video or not. But we decided to do it anyway not with intent to make fun of Teoh’s death but to reveal the real circumstances behind his death. And the video best describes the events behind what really happened.

Many months ago, soon after Perak fell, Malaysia Today had revealed the plan to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat state governments of Selangor, Penang and Kedah. Unfortunately, instead of taking corrective measures by strengthening their defences against the onslaught, Pakatan Rakyat became embroiled in inter-party and intra-party bickering. And most of the bickering was about petty and personal issues involving personalities and egos.

Perak was supposed to be the beginning. Selangor, Penang and Kedah were supposed to follow suit. In time, all the states under Pakatan Rakyat, save Kelantan, would be back in the hands of Barisan Nasional.

The Selangor plan was simple. The Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, and a few of the Selangor State EXCO Members would be arrested for corruption. They would be held a day or so in the lockup and then dragged to court to be charged. The trial would be speedy so that their resignations or disqualifications would come fast. And that would be the end of the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government.

The modus operandi would be the same as what they did to Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. One need not actually receive money or benefit financially for it to be regarded as corruption. Even if your office is used in what could be perceived as an abuse of power or you personally instruct someone to ‘do something’ — even if it does not involve money or financial gain — that too would be considered corruption and you can be sent to jail.

So the MACC was instructed to build a case against various people in the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government, from the Menteri Besar down to his team of EXCO Members. And to implicate these people in corruption the junior officers would be hauled in and forced to make statements that their bosses instructed them to ‘do certain things’. This would be the ‘evidence’ they use to arrest and charge the Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

We must remember, Anwar Ibrahim was arrested, charged, put on trial, pronounced guilty, and sent to jail for six years in exactly the same manner. All they needed to do was to get the Special Branch to ‘reveal’ that Anwar had instructed them to ‘interfere’ in a police investigation. And that was strong enough evidence to send Anwar to jail.

This whole thing came out in Anwar’s trial back in 1998 although many did not understand the implications at that time. The Special Branch officers testified that Anwar had summoned them to his office. And in Anwar’s office they engaged in a conversation. And the conversation involved Anwar asking the Special Branch to help force the witness, Azizan Abu Bakar, to retract his allegation of sodomy.

Azmin Ali, Anwar’s political secretary at that time, testified that Anwar did not summon the Special Branch officers to his office. They had in fact come to Anwar’s office with a request to meet Anwar. Azmin told them that Anwar is busy and would not be able to meet them. But they told Azmin it is important that they meet Anwar and insisted that they be allowed to meet him.

And when they met Anwar they tried to persuade him to give them permission to arrest Azizan so that they could interrogate him and find out who are the ‘forces’ behind the allegation of sodomy. But Anwar was reluctant to allow them to do that and told them he would have to think about it first.

Anwar then went to meet Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to seek his advice. Mahathir advised Anwar to just ignore the allegation. Mahathir said if he acted on every allegation made against him he would have no time to do any other work.

The Special Branch officers came to meet Anwar again and Anwar told them what Mahathir had said. The Special Branch officers, however, insisted that Anwar allow them to arrest Azizan. This matter involves national security, they said. It is not about Anwar. It is about ‘certain forces’ plotting the downfall of the Deputy Prime Minister and it is important that the police find out who they are for the sake of the nation’s security.

Finally Anwar had no choice but to say yes.

The issue is simple. Did Anwar summon the Special Branch officers to his office or was it they who came to see Anwar? And was it Anwar who wanted them to arrest Azizan or was it the Special Branch who sought permission to arrest Azizan?

Anwar and Azmin said it was the Special Branch officers who came to Anwar’s office and it was they who insisted that they meet Anwar. Anwar did not summon them to his office. And Anwar did not agree for them to arrest Azizan. It was the Special Branch that insisted Anwar allow them to arrest Azizan. But before they could do that Anwar would first have to make a police report.

The court accepted the Special Branch’s version of the story rather than Anwar’s and Azmin’s although during the trial the Special Branch officers testified that they were prepared to lie while on the stand if ordered to do so. Nevertheless, Anwar was found guilty and was sent to jail.

So it is not difficult to send someone to jail for corruption. All you need to do is to get someone to testify that someone instructed him or her to ‘do something’. And if that ‘something’ is considered an abuse of power then you go to jail.

The MACC wanted Teoh to say that he too was ordered to ‘do something’ by those in the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government. If he says that then the MACC would have a case against the Pakatan Rakyat leaders. And they wanted the whole thing done fast. It must be settled by Friday because that was the day they wanted to arrest Tan Sri Khalid and a few of his EXCO Members.

So the heat was on. Friday was the dateline. They wanted Tan Sri Khalid and his team arrested that same day. And they would have to use force if necessary to get Teoh to say what the MACC wanted him to say to meet this dateline.

And in their eagerness to get Teoh to talk they killed him. So the crucial witness was now dead. And they could not arrest Tan Sri Khalid and his team of EXCO Members on Friday as planned after all.

So it is back to the drawing board. They will now need new ‘witnesses’. Other junior officers in the Pakatan Rakyat state government would need to be hauled in as ‘witnesses’ and would have to be made to testify under force that they had been instructed to ‘do certain things’ by ‘certain people’. Then these ‘certain people’ can be arrested and charged for corruption. And only then will the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government fall as planned.

Yes, watch the MACC Downfall Parody video again. There is many a truth in that parody. The video may appear funny. It may look like it is meant as a joke. But it is not at all humorous in what they did to Teoh in their effort to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government.

Kasab : “My mission was to kill, take hostages”

Mumbai: Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only gunman on trial for the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, on Tuesday told a court his handlers had instructed him to fire at people indiscriminately and take hostages at the city’s main railway terminus.

Kasab, who made a dramatic confession before special judge M L Tahilyani on Monday, said his handlers had given him detailed instructions for the attack on the CST Railway Terminus.

“I want to give a message to perpetrators across the border,” said Kasab.

Judge Tahilyani then adjourned the court for Tuesday, as the prosecution wanted more time to go over Kasab’s statements.

Kasab on Monday admitted before the court he was a Pakistani and narrated in chilling detail the events leading to the killing spree that left 180 people dead.

In a dramatic twist to the case, Kasab also recounted how he and his associates undertook the sea voyage from Karachi to Mumbai to attack 13 locations in Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008.

He recounted how Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had trained him and then packed him for the attack on Mumbai.

A day after confessing to his involvement in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Kasab made some more revelations in court on Tuesday.

When the judge asked him how he came to know that Pakistan had  accepted him as a citizen. Kasab replied, “I came to know through people on duty in jail.”

While pleading guilty on Monday, the 26/11 accused had said that he was confessing because Pakistan had accepted him as its citizen.

Kasab came up with more details of the plot today. He said, “We were told to fire indiscriminately at CST.”

“We were told to take people hostage on the upper floors of CST and were also told to fire at anyone who came to rescue the hostages,” he added.

Following Kasab’s confessions, the trial court was adjourned till Wednesday.

Source : IBNlive and NDTV

DEATH AT THE CORRIDORS OF MACC

MALAYSIA TODAY

By Sad Cafe

He was being questioned as a witness to a corruption case involving RM 2,400. Yes two thousand and four hundred ringgit as opposed to the RM 4 billion (PKFZ) and many more millions exposed cases involving the ruling party (Khir Toyo) which the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) has chosen to conveniently ignore.

For RM2400 the MACC questioned Teoh Beng Hock, 30, an aide of Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, throughout the night and the next morning he was found dead apparently after falling from some floors up the MACC building. Now, a lot of questions are being asked. Who is responsible? What drove him to jump if he did jump?

In The Sun today, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory panel member Tan Sri Robert Phang, who revealed that the panel will meet on Thursday to discuss the case, said: “If a person has been detained and interrogated for more than six hours, past midnight and right up to early in the morning, I view this is abuse of power.

Teoh’s family has also been reported to distrust any investigation results by MACC and by the Malaysian Police. How can you not side with them with the overwhelming evidence of the selective prosecution by MACC and our Polis whom have always gone after the opposition members, and even more so recently as the Malaysian government try their utmost best to bring down the present Selangor state government which is under opposition rule. (Perak being the other state recently won back by the ruling party using highly questionable tactics).

Call for Royal Commission? What good would it do as even the last RC resulted in no action taken against the infamous“king-maker” Lingam despite obvious evidence to prosecute him.

Read more at: http://sad-cafe.blogspot.com/2009/07/death-at-corridors-of-macc.html

Teoh Beng Hock- death occurred between 8.30 and 9.30am and most likely in the presence of MACC officials

“DAP aide who plunged to death last week did not jump but may have been ejected or pushed out.”

More shocking news to be revealed as investigation continues on the sudden and shocking death of DAP aide, Teoh Beng Hock.

SUARA KEADILAN

By Wong Choon Mei

Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has confirmed that they have siezed Teoh Beng Hock’s mobile phone from an MACC investigating officer, supporting ongoing speculation that the DAP aide who plunged to death last week did not jump but may have been ejected or pushed out.

Khalid also said the recently completed post-mortem showed Teoh died between four and five hours before his body was found at 1.30pm last Thursday.

“If we follow the initial report of the doctor, about four to five hours before the body was found,” he told reporters on Monday.

This means death occurred between 8.30 and 9.30am and most likely in the presence of MACC officials.

There have been news reports suggesting that Beng Hock’s interrogation was due to have resumed at 8am Thursday.

Beng Hock, who came to the MACC Shah Alam office at 5pm on Wednesday, underwent a marathon questioning session. The graft-buster said he was released at 3.45am Thursday.

Amid pressure, details emerge. But will the truth be allowed to surface.

According to MACC investigations division director Shukri Abdull, Beng Hock was free to go home but he chose to stay and catch a nap on a settee in the office.

Said Shukri: “The man was asked to come to Selangor MACC last night at 5pm for his statement to be recorded and this procedure was completed at 3.45am.

“At 3.45am, he was allowed to leave, he promised to come today to bring some documents to assist in the investigations. At 6am, he was still seen to be sleeping at the couch but we didn’t see him until 1.30pm today when the body was found.”

Asked Lim Guan Eng, DAP secretary general: “The MACC office is not a six-star hotel, if you are allowed to go home, you would go home. There is no spa, no sauna. Why would you want to stay there?”

The discovery of Beng Hock’s handphone, which no one had owned up to holding last week, supports Guan Eng’s doubts.

Close-circuit TV also showed Beng Hock entering the building but not leaving. Amid pressure from Beng Hock’s family and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, more ‘acceptable’ details are now being revealed.

The police had initially said there were no signs of foul play and there were also suggestions that he had jumped from the un-occupied 9th floor of the building – implying that his death had nothing to do with the MACC office.

In fact, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz actually said it was not the graft-buster’s fault that Beng Hock had jumped.

Fall was from 14th floor

Latest checks have debunked many of the earlier postulations. Khalid has admitted it was now “highly possible” that Beng Hock fell from the 14th floor.

“We were checking the 14th floor window because we found components of a window on the 5th floor (where Beng Hock’s body was discovered). We will take a closer look at the window. We suspect it is the window handle,” Khalid said.

He declined to give further details but said so far, 33 statements, including from 22 MACC officers, Beng Hock’s boss Ean Yong and lawyer M Manoharan have been taken.

He also said the police were now going through the call records in Beng Hock’s mobile phone.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan has said about 60 percent of investigations have been completed.

Meanwhile, Khalid attacked Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah for refusing to give the police his statement, saying that he risked facing charges for lodging a false report if he did not co-operate.

Tan – who also underwent interrogation around the same time as Beng Hock – had told a press conference on Friday that the MACC tortured him in a bid to force false confessions against Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong.

Ean is Beng Hock’s boss. Tan also complained that MACC officers threw racial slurs at him.

“I advise him to present himself to the police station to give a statement on the report he made. If not, we will have to issue a notice under Section 11 of the Penal Code to order him to give a statement at the station,” said Khalid.

.

‘Remember Beng Hock’ will be a steady battle cry

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

JULY 20 — Whatever support Datuk Seri Najib Razak managed to gain for himself with his recent attempts at reforms has now gone out the window along with Teoh Beng Hock.

Teoh, the political secretary to Selangor DAP exco member Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on a neighbouring rooftop below the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s building in Shah Alam on July 16. According to reports, he had endured 10 hours of questioning by the MACC throughout the previous night.

Later that afternoon, his body was discovered on the roof of the adjacent building. The police have quickly announced that there is no evidence of foul play.

Teoh was apparently not even a suspect in the MACC’s fervent operation recently launched against Selangor state assemblymen belonging to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition. What makes his death more painfully tragic is that Teoh’s fiancée is pregnant, and the couple was scheduled to register his marriage the following day.

Given the lack of public confidence in the police, the anti-corruption apparatus and the federal government itself, calls for a thorough investigation by an independent commission into the case can be expected for a long time to come.

When the anger and sadness that this incident is generating subsides, the fingers of blame cannot but point beyond the MACC officers involved, and at Najib himself. He will be called upon to clarify why his party and coalition should not bear the responsibility for failing to reform the police and the anti-corruption authorities from the bottom up, as recommended by an endless number of experts.

The suspicion will grow that the federal government under Najib — judging from the mix of tactical reforms and sly politicking — does not appreciate how badly compromised the federal apparatus actually is. Despite continuous defeats at the polls, his administration has continued to treat the success of the opposition as if it were the result of clever tactics on the part of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his allies, and not as a public outcry for clean and reliable government.

Criticism that his recent reforms are cosmetic and more tactical than sincere will continue to grow. Given the difficult times that the Pakatan Rakyat has had in recent weeks, Teoh’s death provides renewed focus for its disheartened supporters.

Unlike the few recent cases of deaths under police custody, this one at the Selangor MACC headquarters involves a young man known for his political engagement. His demise therefore carries great political implications, and will be a milestone in the nation’s painful history that future students of Malaysia will have to commit to memory for their exams.

It is a tipping point. “Remember Teo Beng Hock” will be a battle cry for a long time to come.

The ball has now landed squarely in Najib’s court. If he is serious about reforming Malaysia beyond foreign investment regulations and quota changes, he now has his chance of putting partisanship aside, seizing the moment, and acting as a national leader who realises how vital the integrity and professionalism of its investigative authorities are.

Teoh’s death is too big to be swept under the carpet, and will continue to arouse anger unless properly investigated. And even then, strong demands for some decisive action on the government’s part to make sure that no such thing will happen again are to be expected.

Needless to say, the many young activists who have arisen since the Reformasi movement started in 1998 will sympathise at a personal level with Teoh’s family. As long as the case is not openly cleared up, the misgiving will remain strong that it could have been any one of them who might have suffered — or may suffer — an end similar to Teoh’s.

Just a day before Teoh died, the ruling Barisan Nasional was asserting that the narrow margin of 65 votes with which it lost to PR in the Manek Urai by-election showed that the pendulum that had been swinging in PR’s favour for two years was now going the other way.

Indeed, Najib’s popularity had risen sharply according to a recent survey done by the Merdeka Center. Teoh’s death sends a reminder to voters that the police and the anti-corruption body are in pressing need of serious reforming. For PR supporters, their resolve to work for a change of federal government will be strengthened.

What one must conclude from this incident is that Najib’s chosen course of reform avoids his major challenge, which is to restore the credibility of the police, the judiciary and the anti-corruption apparatus.

As long as he sidesteps this duty, his other attempts at change will not be taken seriously. Indeed, even his allies within BN are feeling a greater need to put pressure publicly on Najib.

For starters, it would be wise of Najib to call off MACC’s blatant campaign against the Selangor government.

The writer is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. His latest book is “Arrested Reform: The Undoing of Abdullah Badawi” (Refsa).

Who next after Teoh Beng Hock? — Goh Keat Peng

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Was the nation deemed to be in grave danger?

JULY 17 — As a Christian, I cannot keep to my seat, or shut my mouth and stay neutral over issues of morality.

So I emerge today from my several months of silence and non-involvement to say that what transpired yesterday is immoral, unacceptable and inconscionable.

Why was a witness being held for questioning for 10 hours and only released at 3.45am? What kind of case is it and what is the urgency of the case in question that the witness had to be deprived of sleep and forcibly kept awake till 3.45am? Was the nation deemed to be in grave danger had the witness in question been sent home at a respectable time and asked to report again for questioning the next morning?

The nation could endure long years of waiting over so many other much longer pending cases involving so much more public money and have much greater weight in public interest but this particular case could not wait for the next morning when the witness in question would have been fresher and better rested?

What kind of interrogation was he subjected to on the fateful night without end? Why was it that a witness had to be isolated from his lawyer and forced to be in the sole company of officers with no other neutral person/s present? Because he was in the sole company of officers who were interrogating him, how would his side of the story be ever told? And how would, why should the officers in question be trusted when they tell the nation what actually transpired during that fateful night the witness lost his life?

There were no other witness/es present so how would these officers in question clear their own involvement or clear their own names in this sad story?

Isn’t it true that a medical doctor should carry out the examination of a patient of the opposite sex in the presence of at least one other person? This is a wise procedure so that should any allegation of wrongly conduct be raised against him or her, the doctor would have some neutral testimony to defend him or her.

There have been too many instances of contravention against natural justice in this country involving the agencies and instruments of state. There have been too many victims. The neutrality of these instruments of state is questionable.

This is not about partisan politics. I expect my friends from both sides of the parliamentary divide to speak up. I expect to hear from all political parties and all who hold public office at all levels to speak up. I want especially to hear from Maximus Ongkili, Bernard Dompok, Lee Hwa Beng, Loh Seng Kok who publicly profess the Christian faith to speak up.

I expect the churches and the church leadership to speak up including those I know personally such as Hwa Yung, Ng Moon Hing and many others.

Of course all of the above persons should state their own views and even fault my manner of speaking or reasoning. But silence is not an option. Leaders do not have the option of keeping their opinion to themselves. They must lend their voices to voices which have been silenced.

A young life has been lost on the very eve of his wedding. Siblings, parents, colleagues and a fiancee are in inconsolable grief. Why so? Who will be next? — mysinchew.com

Candelelight Vigil: A Tribute to Teo Beng Hock

MALAYSIAKINI

Some 500 people gathered outside the Plaza Masalam building in Shah Alam last night for a candlelight vigil held to mourn the death of Teo Beng Hock.

Led by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, the crowd paid tribute to the 30-year-old former journalist, who was described by friends and former colleagues as a good-hearted and friendly person. 

Teo, who was working as the political secretary to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hean Wah, is said to have plunged to his death from the building.

He was last seen at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor office – located on the 14th floor of the building – where he was brought in for questioning over investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds by his boss. 

Addressing the crowd, Ean Yong demanded a detailed explanation from MACC and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over his aide’s death.

“This is a tragedy that could have been avoided if MACC followed proper procedures,” said the exco, his voice cracking with grief.

“He was only a
witness. I never thought he would not back.”

According to MACC, Teo was called in at 6pm yesterday and was questioned until 3.45am but was allowed to leave after that. However, Teo had instead chose to ‘rest’ on a sofa in the MACC office and was last seen at 6am. 

His body was discovered on the roof top of Plaza Masalam, more than seven hours later – at 1.30pm – by a janitor. He had apparently fallen from the MACC tower block which is adjacent to the plaza.

‘Goes in alive, comes out a corpse’

Klang MP Charles Santiago told the crowd that a “good man went to the MACC (to assist them in their investigations) and came out a corpse.”

“How can we expect MACC or the police to protect the common man?” he asked.

The crowd also vented their anger towards Najib and chanted slogans such as ‘MACC murderers’ and ‘BN is cruel’.

Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San claimed that the ongoing MACC probe against Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state reps was nothing short of persecution.

“Najib has declared war on Selangor. He wants to take this state like how he took Perak,” added PKR supreme council member Badrul Hisham Shaharin.

Throughout the vigil, the participants who knew Teo recalled their final encounters with the deceased.

“He parks his car beside mine everyday. Now, I will not be able to see him anymore,” lamented Abdul Razak Ismail, the aide of Selangor exco member Dr Xavier Jeyakumar. 

“I had meals with him so many times. I cannot believe that he is gone. MACC must pay for this,” a distraugted DAP party worker from Perak told Malaysiakini.

Fiancee barred from seeing his remains

Earlier in the evening, drama broke out on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam when the police refused to allow Teo’s fiancee to see his body. 

“Please… please just let me see him once,” she pleaded, sobbing uncontrollably.

The pair had known each other for five years and were supposed to register their marriage today. 

Counsel for Teo’s family Gobind Singh Deo expressed regret that the police only allowed Teo’s elder brother to see the body.

He also criticised the police for only informing the family that they could appoint their own pathologist to inspect the body at the eleventh hour. 

Gobind said the family was given only about half an hour to bring a pathologist. He confirmed that three pathologist were already at the scene. 

“We have asked for the preliminary findings but they have given naught,” he exclaimed.

Another Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu demanded that the attorney-general take stern action against those responsible for Teo’s death.

“If MACC did not take him, he would still be alive. MACC must be charged for murder or manslaughter,” he said.

Eyebrows were also raised as to why the police forensics team took almost nine hours to remove the body.

At about 9.15pm, the police took Teo’s body out of the building through the loading bay, avoiding the horde of journalists, photographers and vigilers gathered at the main entrances. 

The police truck carrying the body sped off from the crowded car park en route to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, where a post-mortem will be carried out today. 

It is understood that at least two forensics team inspected Teo’s body.

According to DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, Teo’s mother in Alor Gajah, Malacca, had been crying non-stop since she was informed of the news at 5pm.

“Friends and relatives (are) in shock,” he said in a Tweeter message.

Teo’s mother was consoled by former DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock.

Ean Yong’s political secretary dead at MACC HQ

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

SHAH ALAM, July 16 – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) controversial probe into several DAP assemblymen’s activities was thrown into more turmoil today with the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock at the anti-graft authority’s Selangor headquarters.

The 30-year-old’s death will put more pressure on the MACC, which has been accused by the opposition of conducting selective investigations.

By 9pm tonight, a crowd had gathered at the scene for a candlelight vigil in his memory, which soon grew into a protest with angry chants of “Najib pembunuh, BN zalim, BN jahanam” (murderer Najib, cruel BN, go to hell, BN)and “Reformasi!”

Teoh, the political secretary of Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah,  was taken in for questioning by the MACC yesterday at its 14th floor office in Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.

MACC said he was freed but his body was later found sprawled on the roof of a five-storey building next door.

It is unclear if Teoh, a former journalist with Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh, fell or jumped from the MACC office.

Ean Yong and several other DAP lawmakers are at the scene now, including M. Manoharan, Gan Pei Nee and Teresa Kok.

DAP’s Ronnie Liu said the police has confirmed that the body is that of Teoh. He added that he does not understand how this could have happened.

At a press conference, the MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul said Teoh was questioned from 5pm yesterday to 3.45am and was released soon after.

However, Teoh apparently said he was tired and so he rested on a settee in the lobby. He was seen sleeping on the settee at 6am.

At about 1.30pm, Shukri said, they heard that a body had been found on the 5th floor of the adjacent building and when one of the MACC officers went to investigate, he realised it was one of their witnesses.

Shukri said Teoh was not a suspect but was questioned as part of their investigations into the misuse of state allocations.

Police have not allowed anyone to view Teoh’s body, which has still not been removed at 6.30pm, when his brother was at the scene. According to witnesses at the scene, the body was finally removed about 9.20pm.

Forensic investigators examine the body of Teoh Boon Hock for clues. Teoh was found dead next to the MACC’s office today, after being taken in for questioning yesterday.

In an immediate reaction, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang expressed shock and asked in his twitter account, “Is there now the first case of death in custody, not police but MACC? If so, heads must roll!”

The DAP leader is in Penang and said he was waiting for a full report about the tragedy.

“What has this country come to?” he asked, adding later he and other Pakatan Rakyat leaders will meet the MACC on Friday for an explanation.

According to Kit Siang, Teoh, an Alor Gajah boy, was to register his marriage tomorrow.

Kit Siang also confirmed he and Anwar will meet reporters at the MACC building in Shah Alam at 10am Friday.

Teoh was taken in for questioning yesterday after MACC officers raided Ean Yong’s office in the State Secretariat as they were investigating complaints about the failure of state allocations to reach the people.

Selangor State Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim weighed in by saying the MACC is responsible for the incident.

His lawyer M Manoharan, who accompanied Teo to the MACC office yesterday, said the deceased looked normal and showed no signs of being under stress.

“He was happy and looked composed. I had advised him how to handle the interrogation as I was not allowed in during questioning,” he said.

Manoharan, who is the Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson, last saw Teo at around 7pm yesterday.

Ean Yong said it was highly unlikely Teoh took his own life since he was due to register his marriage tomorrow.

“Furthermore, there was no reason for him to linger (after the interrogation) because his car was here,” he added.

Selangor executive councillor Elizabeth Wong expressed shock over Teoh’s death and added to the chorus that MACC was responsible for it.

“This tragic incident is another reminder of the recklessness of supposedly public institutions like the MACC in pursuing the goals of their political masters,” she said in a statement.

Wong said MACC investigations director Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul’s explanation flew in the face of logic, adding that the authority should operate within acceptable guidelines when conducting interrogations.

“Even the police stops interrogating suspects at 6pm. Did the MACC think it holds powers greater than the PDRM when it interrogated Teoh from 5pm to 4am the next day?” she asked.

She said the incident has prompted her not to allow her staff to be questioned by the MACC unless accompanied by legal counsel, adding the police should also seal the office for investigations.

“ Datuk Mohd Shukri … should save whatever honour he and the MACC have left by resigning,” said the Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman.

In a statement, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the MACC must bear full responsibility for this death as Teoh was in their custody at the time.

“MACC should stop its political persecution of PR, especially DAP leaders and members, that does not serve the interest of fighting corruption or justice,” he said. “Such political games have caused the loss of life of a bright young idealistic DAP member.”

“There must be a full investigation on how he died. Unless MACC can clear its name, the public may suspect that Teoh was mistreated and MACC had a hand in his sudden death. There must be full transparency and accountability.

A man lights a candle during a vigil for the lat

e Teoh Beng Hock. – Picture by Jack Ooi

“DAP extends its condolences to Teoh’s family for this tragic loss and assures them that all steps will be taken to ensure that the culprits or those responsible be punished.”

Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Swee Lim, who was weeping openly at the press conference, said he had wanted to take Teoh for seafood yesterday.

Meanwhile, PKR vice president K. Sivarasa calls this a “death in suspicious circumstances.”

PKR assemblyman Xavier Jeyakumar is questioning why a normal young man would want to kill himself over being questioned about state allocations.

A vigil organised for Teoh outside the MACC office was held at 8.30pm tonight. A group of youth unveiled a banner saying: “MACC we want answers and the truth”.

By 9.20pm, the scene was beginning to evoke memories of Reformasi protests as at least 200 people had gathered.

Opposition leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang and Lim Kit Siang are reported to be heading to the site, and are expected to arrive around 10pm.

A FLASHBACK OF DR MOHAMED OSMAN OF PUSRAWI’S MEDICAL REPORT AND SD

FROM MALAYSIA TODAY

Now that Anwar Ibrahim’s trial has kicked off maybe it is time to recap on what happened about a year ago with regards to the allegation that Anwar had buggered Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Malaysia Today previously published Dr Osman’s medical report and the Statutory Declaration that followed it and the police subsequently raided my house and called me in for interrogation wanting to know how I managed to get my hands on these documents.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

SEE THE VIDEOS HERE

1. Doktor Pusrawi Muncul Semula & Akui Akuan Bersumpah Miliknya

2. Dr Osman pertahan keputusan pemeriksaan perubatan Saiful

3. Cops grill Raja Petra over doc’s SD

TO  VIEW VIDEO PLEASE GO TO :

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24371/84/