Inquest to Sarbaini’s death ‘suspicious’

PKR leaders want police to explain why an inquest is required over the Customs officer's death despite 'circumstances that point strongly to the existence of foul play'.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR leaders today demanded answers from the police and Attorney-General (AG) on why an inquest has to be called on the death of senior Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed, calling the decision “suspicious, inappropriate and legally incorrect”.

This follows the police announcement yesterday confirming no foul play in the case and that the AG had agreed that an inquest should be sought.

“The police and the Attorney-General must explain their reasons for calling for an inquest and why their investigation has abjectly failed to explain this death, ” said a statement jointly issued by PKR vice-presidents N Surendran and Nurul Izzah Anwar.

” We regard this sudden decision of the police and Attorney-General as suspicious, inappropriate and legally incorrect. An inquest ought not to be ordered where immediate criminal prosecution is more appropriate.”

The PKR leaders demanded that the outcome and conclusion of the police investigation into the death of Ahmad Sarbaini be revealed to the public.

“The public and Ahmad Sarbaini’s family are entitled to know why there are no answers yet on why he died.”

They argued that Ahmad Sarbaini was a perfectly normal and healthy family man who went in voluntarily to assist investigations at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) offices.

“There is no evidence that he was suicidal; and it has been established that he did not possess wealth beyond his means,” they said.
“The motive for suicide is simply non-existent.”

They said the circumstances “point strongly” to the existence of foul play, especially in light of his widow’s police report on May 2 which said that a MACC investigating officer had purportedly admitted that ”his men” were responsible for the death.

‘Highly questionable’

An inquest should have been ordered immediately upon Ahmad Sarbaini’s death and it was “surprising and highly questionable” why an inquest is being called almost two months later, they said.

They also alleged that the public had been misled by police’s impression that investigations were proceeding speedily and the family would receive an explanation soon.

“Was this impression given just to satisfy the public outrage in the immediate wake of this terrible death? Now it seems that the investigation has proved to be so fruitless that an inquest has had to be ordered. Why was the public misled in this manner?”

“More disturbingly, the sudden announcement of an inquest comes a day after PKR submitted a memorandum to the IGP questioning the lack of action in Ahmad Sarbaini’s case. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the purpose of the inquest is to let the matter drag on and keep the public quiet.”

On April 6, Ahmad Sarbaini, 56, was found sprawled on the first floor of the badminton court at the Federal Territory MACC building in Jalan Cochrane, Cheras.

Ahmad Sarbaini, who was attached to the Port Klang Customs Department, was among the 62 officers detained on April 1 in a massive nationwide MACC probe over graft allegations of a “Customs syndicate” laundering billions through tax evasion.

He was later released on bail but was reported to have returned to the office on April 6 to change a statement he made.

MACC had said that an officer had left Ahmad Sarbaini alone in a third-floor room and had returned to find him missing.

Special task force

Ahmad Sarbaini’s family and friends have said it was impossible that he had committed suicide or had taken any bribe.

Following his death, police formed a special task force to investigate. More than 44 witnesses gave statements in the police probe. A professional stuntman was even called to help a pathologist analyse how Ahmad Sarbaini fell.

Initial post-mortem results confirmed the cause of death to be severe head injuries consistent with a fall. Police had classified the case as sudden death.

Police investigation papers were handed over to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on April 22 but were returned on April 26.

MACC has since suspended two of its officers and conducted an internal probe.

Ahmad Sarbaini’s death came just two years after the death of former journalist and political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

Teoh, 30, was found dead on the fifth floor landing of the MACC’s Selangor headquarters, then in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam. He was a witness over an alleged misuse of state funds.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had urged the public not to compare the two deaths, saying that they were different.

Najib also said that an inquest was only possible after the police have completed their investigations.