Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today the application to exhume political aide Teoh Beng Hock's remains for a second post-mortem should be allowed in the interest of finding the truth.

" hishammuddin hussein home ministry 140409 talking If it requires things like that and there is a rationale behind it, and it is within the law, I see no reason why it should not be allowed," he told the media at the Parliament lobby.

Yesterday, Teoh's family filed an application at the Shah Alam Magistrate's Court for an order to exhume his remains for a post-mortem by Thai forensic expert Dr Porntip Rojanasunand.

Porntip, who is engaged by the Selangor state government, had surmised based on photographs that there was an 80 percent chance that Teoh's death was homicide.

Teoh, the political aide of Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam after giving a statement on alleged misuse of state allocations at the Selangor MACC office located in the same building.

Meanwhile, human rights watchdog Suaram has submitted a memorandum to the government on the controversial death.

The memorandum, which was addressed to the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, was received by deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department VK Liew in Parliament today.

Suspend MACC chief

At a press conference, Johor Suaram executive secretary Fang Pei Fen said the memorandum contained 6,109 signatures, which included 25 NGOs.

She said the memorandum urged the government to amend the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act to monitor its commission officials whether they were involved in abuse of power.

Among others, the memorandum demands:

1) The royal commission to be set up to probe Teoh’s death should also investigate whether MACC officials had abused their powers when questioning the political aide.

Half of the members of the royal commission should come from opposition members and NGOs to ensure that there is transparency and justice.

2) MACC chief Ahmad Said Hamdan and those officers involved in the Teoh case should be suspended from their posts pending the investigation.