Najib slammed for hinting Sarbani's death not suspicous, no inquest needed

It looks like the family of Ahmad Sarbani Mohamaed will have to fight tooth and nail if they want justice for him - just like the family of Selangor political aide Teoh Beng Hock had to struggle, face ridicule and all sorts of accusations when they refused to accept that he had committed suicide at the MACC headquarters.

Comments from Prime Minister Najib Razak, to whom the MACC answers, shed light on how his federal government plans to play the Sarbani 'death fall'.

Like Beng Hock, Sarbani fell to his death while at MACC premises. The assistant director of Selangor Customs, who had been remanded and was out on bail, had returned to the MACC to seek a meeting with the investigating officer. But llike Beng Hock, he was never seen alive again.

"It has to be done in stages and we have to look at the police investigations first. If there is suspicion over his death, only then will an inquest be held," Star reported Najib as saying on Sunday.

The PM had been asked if the government would hold an inquest. His answer implied that the police did not believe there was any foul play involved. Najib did not even acknowledge the growing calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sarbani's death.

"What is Najib saying? It is very strange that there can be no suspicion when a healthy man goes into the MACC office early in the morning and then be found dead a few hours later - not from heart attack or illness but from having 'fallen' from the third floor. How can this not be suspicious?" PAS vice president Mahufuz Omar told Malaysia Chronicle.

RCI? May not even get an inquest!

Sarbani's friends and family have insisted he was in good spirits and would never have committed suicide.

They also rubbished the corruption charges levelled at him, saying he would never accept bribes. Sarbani was among the more than 60 Customs officers hauled up for a money-laundering and tax evasion racket said to be worth at least RM108 billion in total.

In the chatrooms of cyberspace, speculation is rife that Sarbani had threatened to blow the whistle on who the real masterminds behind the racket were and their links to the ruling elite. And for this, he had been killed.

As far as his corruption charges were concerned, his friends believe he was a victim of MACC investigations that aimed to shield the powerful politicians who had necessary clout needed to grease such a huge scam.

Cover-up for high-level corruption in both cases

The similarities between the deaths of Sarbani and Beng Hock are markedly similar. Pundits have said it was exceedingly strange that Najib and the Inspector General of Police had chosen to immediately insist that they were different.

Both the deceased were part of corruption probes.

Beng Hock was a witness in a graft probe involving several members of the Selangor state executive council. His death was due to a fall from the 14th floor of the MACC building. He is believed to be a victim of an Umno conspiracy to topple the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor state government.

Sarbani is believed to have fallen from a third floor window. He was a suspect in the money laundering case involving Customs officers.

The Najib administration too had refused to grant Beng Hock's family an RCI, although after a long drawn-out inquest that delivered a controversial open verdict, Najib was forced by public outcry to begin one.

It looks like the Sarbani family may not even get an inquest, let alone an RCI.

- Malaysia Chronicle