SPECIAL REPORT | Every year, the above words are sung during the memorial for the late Teoh Beng Hock.
Titled “Anak Muda Bernama Teoh” (A Young Man Named Teoh), it was originally a poem penned by writer and activist Hishamuddin Rais, and later turned into a song by musician Zamri Mat Jidan, better known as Nik Jidan.
On July 15, 2009, Teoh, an aide to Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hain Wah, was taken to the Selangor headquarters of the MACC, then located at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.
The next day, the 30-year-old was found dead on the corridor of the fifth floor of the building. His death sent shockwaves across the country.
The Teoh family and their supporters fought for justice for 10 years to this day, travelled across Malaysia to seek public support and navigated various legal processes, from an inquest into this death and all the way to the Court of Appeal.
Many things have changed since the day they received the news that their loved one had died in such a tragic way. One of them - for the first time in Malaysian history - was the change of federal government.
However, the Teoh family’s search for the truth continues, with the police having announced that they would reinvestigate the death under Section 324 of the Penal Code for "wrongful confinement", a minor offence.
Those found guilty under Section 342 of the Penal Code can be jailed for a maximum of one year or fined RM2,000, or both.
A birthday present destroyed
The announcement that Beng Hock’s death will be reinvestigated came on June 20, 2018, on the eve of his sister Teoh Lee Lan’s birthday.
But a year on, the birthday gift is now in pieces, Lee Lan said.
Last month, she received a phone call from police seeking her statement for the reinvestigation. It was then that she was told the case is being investigated under Section 342.
“(My lawyer) Ramkarpal Singh asked why the case was investigated under Section 342 and he was told this was orders from the top. Then, the police said they don’t need my testimony yet, because they don’t know which section of the law they can use,” Lee Lan said.
It made it seem as if the police did not do their research before starting their reinvestigation, she told Malaysiakini in an interview.
Lee Lan felt this showed that the police are not sincere in getting to the bottom of the case.
She added that in the report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Beng Hock’s death, it was alleged that many MACC officers gave false statements, yet this was completely disregarded in the reinvestigation.
“You (police) had a choice of which section to use in the investigation, including Section 342. So why use such a light section?” she asked, her voice clearly sounding her great disappointment.
Ramkarpal, who is also DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP, agreed that using Section 342 does not make sense. He is also critical of the investigations and the lack of prosecution, after so long.
The biggest issue, he said, is the government's failure to explain to the people about what happened in this case.
“This case has not yet been resolved… you cannot continue dragging it for so long. It has already been 10 years. You either change someone (in court) or give a reason why no charges have been made,” Ramkarpal said.
“The problem now is that no one is giving an explanation, so everyone is making their own speculations.”
Politicians’ empty promises
A decade ago, Lee Lan said, she saw herself as an ordinary girl who did not pay attention to politics. Today, she is a woman who is adept in the country’s legal processes, and a veteran of media interviews after having been the family spokesperson for 10 years.
Every year in June and July since Beng Hock’s death, Lee Lan will be busy giving numerous interviews and organising various events to commemorate the black incident.
This year, she is doing it while in her last trimester of pregnancy. She is expecting to give birth to her firstborn next month.
It is a lot for anyone to go through, but within Lee Lan is an endless reserve of strength and calmness.
“Maybe it is just how I am that I don’t feel that stressed. I never asked why this tragedy had to happen to my family. I never asked why us,” she said.
“Maybe it is just how I am that I don’t feel that stressed. I never asked why this tragedy had to happen to my family. I never asked why us,” she said.
Even so, Lee Lan admitted that this year has been especially challenging because the politicians who fought alongside the family are now in power.
“I feel really tired and tortured, as if am losing hope. Last year, we were facing an irresponsible federal government that did not want to hear us. I couldn’t do anything about that.
“But now the government has changed. The individuals who promised to support us are now giving me the same answers. What more can I say?” she lamented.
Just like the results of the 14th general election, the recent development in Beng Hock’s case is beyond Lee Lan’s expectations.
“For 10 years, so many politicians and members of the public told me my family will only have a chance to find out the truth when there is a change of government and new investigating officers can be appointed.
“Every year at Beng Hock’s memorial service, they, DAP especially, would tell me they will not forget us and they will not give up on finding the killer. Yet, a year (after it came into power), the new government tells me the case is being investigated under Section 342.
“A change of government, something which was previously seen as the most difficult thing to do, has been done. But what about our answers? Why have the promises not been fulfilled?” she asked, her cheeks wet with tears.
Even so, Lee Lan said, she will never quit trying and hold on to the hope that justice will be served.
“I hope that on this day next year, we will have a fair court judgment and the killer is convicted of the crime,” she added.
Back to square one
TBH Trust for Democracy president Ng Geok Chee is less reserved when criticising the Pakatan Harapan government’s handling of Beng Hock’s case.
“The latest development is totally unacceptable. Nevermind how Lee Lan feels, but even people like us who have no blood ties with the victim are angry,” she said.
Ng said the classification of the case under Section 342 makes it seem like politicians are treating the case as a game.
“We had believed that the new government will be able to reform the system and improve the image of the police.
“But when we wrote to Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, there was no reasoning given. We also wrote to MACC chief Latheefa Koya, and got the same response.
“We had such high hopes. Now we are back to square one, back where we started,” said Ng, who is a lawyer by profession.
She said the government is so eager to please certain sections of society that it has become lax in pushing forward the much-needed reforms.
It is for this reason that the TBH Trust for Democracy held the memorial this year at the place of Beng Hock's death - Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.
Silence is not an option
The theme for this year’s memorial activities is “10 years, Silence Is Not An Option” and one vocal supporter of the Teoh family is musician Nik Jidan. He will be performing at a concert organised by TBH Trust for Democracy later this year.
A supporter of the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat in 2009, Nik Jidan said he started paying attention to the case because he felt it was clear evidence of abuse of power.
Beng Hock died after being interrogated for suspected wrongdoing over RM2,400 his boss, assemblyperson Ean Wah, paid for flags for a Merdeka Day celebration. It happened a year after Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor.
For the musician, it was evident that agencies like the MACC were used by the BN government to find fault with the newly-elected Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government then.
“It led to my involvement in the campaign (to seek justice for Beng Hock) and my awareness and knowledge in standing up for justice has grown since then,” he said.
Nik Jidan recalled how Beng Hock’s case was not the only one involving those interrogated falling from an MACC building.
On April 6, 2011, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, 56, was found dead at the bottom of the three-story MACC building on Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur. Sarbani was a deputy director at the Selangor Customs Department.
Nik Jidan said these two cases alone have tarnished the people’s impression on the Malaysian justice system, and the new government must work to restore this by seeking the truth.
“I believe the Teoh family’s struggle and that of the TBH Trust for Democracy is so important that it is like the heartbeat in anyone who believes in justice.
“The federal government under Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad needs to show that it wants to find the truth in these cases of death in detention.
“If no individual is punished then justice is not 100 percent upheld,” Nik Jidan said. - Mkini
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