Cops call in Beng Hock's ex-boss in new probe

Selangor police have called in Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah (photo) as part of its reinvestigations into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, his former aide.

When contacted, Yong said he was contacted by the police last week and summoned to the Selangor police contingent headquarters in Shah Alam this afternoon.

"I was interviewed by a senior police officer for one hour and they had asked me to assist in their new probe under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement," he told Malaysiakini.

"I was told that the police have received instructions from the Attorney-General's Chambers to reopen the case."

Among others, Yong said he told police how a group of officers had treated Teoh like a suspect rather than a witness when he was accompanied to the Selangor MACC former headquarters in Shah Alam.

"Police will relook the whole case and try to find new evidence. The probe is just the beginning. If there were new evidence, there is a possibility of new charges to be filed," said Yong.

On July 16, 2009, Teoh was found dead after falling from the ninth floor of Plaza Masalam, MACC's former Selangor headquarters in Shah Alam, where he had been held overnight for questioning.

The Pakatan Harapan government last year had agreed to reopen investigations into Teoh's death, after nearly a decade of calls from his family members and supporters for justice to be delivered.

In June, a group seeking justice for Teoh had demanded an explanation from the attorney-general on reclassification of police investigations into Teoh's death, arguing that the case should be probed under Section 304 of the Penal Code for culpable homicide.

Teoh Beng Hock Trust For Democracy chairperson Ng Geok Chee said this was based on a Court of Appeal judgment in 2014 that one or more unknown persons, including MACC officers, had caused Teoh's death.

The judgment overturned the coroner's open verdict with regard to Teoh's death, ruling instead that Teoh died from a fall that could have been accelerated by unlawful actions of persons unknown, including by MACC officers.

Following the verdict, MACC agreed to pay RM600,000 to Teoh's family to settle a negligence suit they brought against the commission.

The court also ordered the police to investigate the death.

In 2016, the Attorney-General's Chambers had found no criminal element in Teoh's death. - Mkini