The inquest into the cause of death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock is likely to be postponed as the lawyers representing Teoh's family will be applying for documents related to the case to be handed to them as well.

NONE The inquest is scheduled to begin at the Shah Alam Session Court tomorrow and is expected to last until August 12 before deputy registrar Azmil Muntapha Abas, who has been appointed coroner.

Besides the application, the family's lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, in his blog posting, has also asked that the Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail to defer the inquest until police investigation into Teoh's death is thoroughly concluded.

"It was revealed by the Selangor police chief (Khalid Abu Bakar) just a while ago that police investigations into the case are more or less complete... it was also revealed that some reports such as the pathologist report has yet to be received by the police," said Gobind.

He also said that the police have also contacted several witnesses to testify before the coroner and to provide DNA samples.

"One would assume this is to connect those persons to the body of Teoh, which no doubt will have a huge impact on the case," he said.

gobind singh challenge speaker decision in court 230409 01 Gobind (right) stressed that the until the essential elements have been completed, the AG should not press for the inquest.

"In fact, an inquest should only be held after the police have completed their investigations and those investigations cannot by themselves establish a cause of death.

"This is because the AG should first consider the findings of the police investigations before deciding whether or not an inquest is required, he added.

"A deferment for a short while will benefit all parties to the inquest as there would be time for the exchange of documents and (more) importantly, the family of Teoh would also be able to seek a second opinion from experts on the various reports such as the post mortem, forensic and DNA results which would be of most importance to the inquest.

Gobind assured that the lawyers representing the family would give their full cooperation and assistance during the inquest.

"The outcome of the inquest is most important to all Malaysians and as such I am of the view that it ought not be rushed through as is apparent in the case now," he said.

Teoh, was DAP exco Ean Yong Hian Wah's political secretary.

He is believed to have fallen from the 14th floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor building on July 16.

Following immense pressure from political groups and the public outcry, the government had also agreed to form a royal commission to look into MACC's investigative procedures.

Royal commission has greater moral authority

PKR vice president and Subang MP, R Sivarasa, in a statement, added that the "hastily set up inquest further reflects the government's refusal for the royal commission to probe into the circumstances of Teoh's death.

bershi 1blackmalaysia pc 050509 sivarasa rasiah "To relegate this critical task to a junior magistrate court of inquest opens the BN government to the opposition charge that the cabinet has put the cart before the horse," said Sivarasa (left) .

Furthermore, the royal commission has much greater "moral authority and legal prowess" to probe the death, said Sivarasa.

He also commented that inquests set up previously to investigate the deaths in police custody have failed to identify the perpetrator and without result.

"The failure of the inquests had underlined the call for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in the 2005 Report of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Police so that an independent body would investigate such misconduct."

Witnesses asked for DNA sample

Meanwhile, another lawyer Lim Lip Eng, who is acting for some of the witnesses in the case told Malaysiakini today that his clients were asked to provide their saliva for DNA testing.

"A police officer identified only as ASP Yong, phoned two of my clients today and asked them to come to the Shah Alam police station tonight to give their saliva for DNA identification," said Lim.

However, Lim said when his clients had asked for the reason the samples were needed, the police officer had only said that it was an instruction from the AG.

"I asked my clients to also ask whether they are still witnesses or suspects but to that he refused an answer.

Lim further said that as no court order was served and as the DNA Bill is yet to be gazetted, he had informed his clients that they could ignore the request.