KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Lim Kit Siang has likened Teoh Beng Hock’s suicide under duress from graftbusters to murder and said that those responsible for his death must “face the full consequences”.
The DAP parliamentary leader said any layman would agree that being forced to commit suicide by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers was not the same as suicide but was “equal to homicide”.
“You cannot have a situation it’s not homicide but (rather) forced to commit suicide,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Lim (picture) claimed the national anti-graft body was “overzealous” in pursuing the case involving Teoh’s boss, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, because it was under orders to “destroy” the opposition.
A royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Teoh’s death ruled today that the DAP aide committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by MACC officers.
The officers had wanted to pressure Teoh to be a witness in their case against Ean Yong for alleged abuse of public funds.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz disclosed the finding today which, he said, was unanimous.
Ean Yong said he did not believe Teoh committed suicide but pointed out that the RCI report clearly showed that MACC officers had abused their power and failed to follow procedures.
“The people of Malaysia will have their own judgment on this case and we will continue to find the truth about the death of Teoh,” he said.
A royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Teoh’s death ruled today that the former DAP aide committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by MACC officers.
The officers had wanted to pressure Teoh to be a witness in their case against Ean Yong for alleged abuse of public funds.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz disclosed the finding today which he said was unanimous.
The royal commission also found three MACC officers to have breached standard operating procedures and recommended that action be taken specifically against them.
Nazri told reporters the government would leave it to the police to take the necessary action against the three MACC officers.
RCI chairman Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen submitted commission’s report on June 22.
The five-man commission wrapped up its report on June 15 after having heard testimony from 70 witnesses in its bid to unravel the mysterious circumstances behind Teoh’s death.
The 30-year-old DAP political aide was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after he was questioned overnight by MACC officers at their then-Selangor headquarters on the 14th floor.
The coroner’s inquest had in January returned an “open verdict”, ruling out both suicide and homicide some 18 months after Teoh’s death.
The government was then forced to establish the RCI, which first met in February, with two terms of reference: to probe how Teoh plunged to his death and to look into MACC’s investigative methods.
The report will be on sale from 10am tomorrow at the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.
The 124-page report is retailing at RM45 and is available in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.
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