The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who interviewed Teoh Beng Hock hours before his death did not have the authority to do so, it was revealed today.

NONE Bar Council lawyer Edmund Bon, who questioned MACC assistant enforcement officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus (left) , said this was according to a MACC internal inquiry that probed the conduct of officers involved.

In its report, the anti-graft body’s complaints committee had stated that Mohd Ashraf and his colleague Arman Alias did not have powers to interrogate Teoh as provided under Section 30(8) of the MACC Act 2009.

Bon read excerpts from the reports before the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) this morning.

He also said MACC investigators are required to record a written statement in the event the witness or suspect is interrogated under Section 30 of the Act.

Bon then put it to Mohd Ashraf that he had broken the law by interrogating Teoh, but the latter disagreed.

The lawyer then suggested: “If you knew (you didn’t have the powers), would you have gone ahead to interview Teoh because you got orders from your commanding officer?”

Mohd Ashraf replied that if he were asked by his boss to interrogate a person today and it is against the law, he would not do so.

Ashraf said he did not record Teoh’s “intelligence statement” but that Arman did.

NONE Bon also suggested that Teoh (right) was “threatened and pressured” during the interview, but Mohd Ashraf disagreed.

“You said yesterday that Teoh kept silent and looked down most of the time. If it was just a friendly chat, did you look at Teoh  in the eye?” asked Bon, but Mohd Ashraf was not able to recall.

Bon asked if Teoh would have been able to leave during the interrogation, but Mohd Ashraf replied that he would request Teoh not to.

Teoh did not leave the room during questioning but only asked for a glass of water, he said.

He told the panel that they waited almost 20 minutes for Teoh to answer when was asked about four unsigned invoices retrieved from his laptop.

“He answered, but it was not satisfactory,” said Ashraf, adding there are no written guidelines on MACC interrogations.

“Teoh doesn't need to ask for water. (He) can go himself but he couldn’t because (he was) hurt, pressured, not in fit state because of your actions,” Bon suggested, but Mohd Ashraf disagreed. 

'No disciplinary breaches'

The MACC probe was conducted on April 26 last year. The documents were declassified and handed over to the RCI when the proceedings began on Feb 14. 

raja petra shafee abdullah sedition case 150808 04 MACC lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah ( right ), when submitting the report, told the royal commission that the internal probe had revealed no disciplinary breaches among its officers on the 14th and 15th floors of Plaza Masalam.

“The conclusion is they have absolved all these matters from criminal responsibilities or disciplinary conduct,” he had said.

The royal panel is looking into the cause of Teoh’s death, and will also assess the MACC’s interrogation procedures.

Teoh, who was political aide to DAP’s Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, was interrogated overnight as a witness into the alleged misuse of state funds by his employer.

He had reported to the Selangor MACC’s office on July 15, 2009 in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, but was found dead the following day on the fifth floor service corridor of the building.

An 18-month inquest returned an ‘open verdict’, leading to the formation of the RCI. It will present its report to the Agong by April 25.