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Heads must roll in MACC
Published:  Apr 7, 2011 9:32 AM
Updated: 3:34 AM

your say 'After TBH, the MACC should have tightened up their security and procedures. Yet, it believes nobody should question the way they work.'

Customs officer dies after falling off MACC building

Fair Mind: After the Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) fiasco, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should have tightened up their security and procedures. Yet, the MACC thinks that they are the Almighty and nobody should question the way they work. Now we have another one walking into the MACC alive and leaving MACC dead.

How many deaths should occur before anything is being done by the MACC to prevent future deaths? The MACC boss should tender in his resignation. In other country, the head of the department would voluntarily take responsibility for such a fiasco and resign.

Aku India: Please investigate:

1) Can a person die if he were to fall from the third floor?

2) If Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed planned to commit suicide, shouldn't he have gone to the Twin Towers?

3) He is on bail. He would have had ample time to decide if he wanted to commit suicide. Why would he choose the MACC office?

Bangsamalaysia: This is a great shame. An autopsy by an independent pathologist is a must if we are to avoid another cover-up. The public must know how and why this man died. We cannot assume he committed suicide out of shame because:

a) a person is innocent till proven guilty;

b) why jump out of a three-story building where you have a chance of not dying but becoming a vegetable?

P Dev Anand Pillai: Justice James Foong of the RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) for TBH should take heed of this development and of what Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand had to say about the MACC. Most probably, this will be described as another case of "suicide".

Catching the Customs officers was the right thing to do, but not to the extent of killing them when they are cooperating in the gathering of evidence for a probable charge against them. This will clearly play in the minds of the Malay electorate.

Even if the Indians decide to go the way of BN, the Malays will have to wake up now and set this nation straight by kicking this administration out of office as soon as the opportunity surfaces.

For those who have yet to register as voters, don't wait till your relative is thrown out of a building.

Save Malaysia Now: This is a clear case of suicide as the money involved amounted to millions. The deceased couldn't face the stigma of facing up to the shame and ridicule of being charged in court and decided to take his own life.

However, the MACC officers who have been interrogating him should be hauled up to see if the methods use were de-humanising in any way. If found to be abusive and threatening, they should be charged in court for manslaughter.

This latest case however should not be categorised the same as Teoh Beng Hock's as the amount that was involved in his case only amounted to RM2,000. There is absolutely no reason, too, for TBH to end his life as he was about to be married the day after his tragic death.

Q: Let the investigations be done first. There is nothing we can do if a person chooses to end his or her life that way. I hope the police will make a thorough investigation regarding this case. The officer may have been unable to stand the shame that he will face after the investigation. My deepest condolences to the family.

Cala: What is in common between TBH's case and Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed's case? The answer is: Both were found dead within one to three days after being interrogated by MACC boys. Naturally the biggest suspect is none other than MACC, whose method of extracting information from their victims is the most contentious topic.

I am no doctor, but under this circumstance, one needs the advice from experts on the drawbacks of harsh interrogation tactics used by them that may end up having more deaths obviously incompatible with the crimes committed (even by assuming that there were).

Previously many Indians were found dead in police custody and Malaysians generally could not care too much and life went on. Things apparently changed following TBH's sudden death in the hands of Selangor MACC.

The latest horror story of Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed no doubt will send the public into a state of frenzy over the manner MACC treat their witnesses.

Meranti Kepong: It is very shocking that these civil servants are taking advantage of their official position to practice bribery and corruption even though they are well-rewarded as public servants of the people.

I call on the government to leave no stone unturned to ensure that all these crooks are caught and be brought to justice. Clean the system among civil servants, especially those in the police, Customs and Forestry officials, who are enriching themselves in millions of dollars. Those who are found involved in corruption should be severely punished.

Quigonbond: My immediate hypothesis is that there is a mole within MACC whose side job is to prevent the assistant director from saying too much to implicate some third party. Why else would an assistant director ride a non-descript motorcycle if not to divulge damaging information?

This is what happens when the top management of the country tolerates or otherwise encourage embezzlement, character assassination, murder, incompetence, abuse of power, outright nepotism and crony capitalism.

They've encouraged little Napoleons, saboteurs and assassins to make a mark on their own in a land where the vicious survive and the virtuous perish. It may not be Umno/BN's direct doing this time, but Umno/BN's dismal record in enforcing ethics and discipline has lead us down this damning path.

AnakBangsaMalaysia: There are two separate but equally important issues here:

1) It is a fact that there is rampant corruption, not just within Customs, but also within the police, JPJ (Road Transport Department), Immigration, MACC itself and probably every single government department. This systemic corruption must continue to be investigated, although there is now no independent body in Malaysia that can do this investigation.

2) The suspicious death of Customs officer Ahmad Sarbani and Teoh Beng Hock once again highlights the issue of the many, many deaths of people while in the custody of 'law enforcement agencies' in Malaysia. This is an issue that the Umno-BN regime continues to try to sweep under the carpet as an 'inconvenience'.

Monochrome: Are we surprised? That is why the MACC's advisory panels should resign following the footsteps of Robert Phang. There is no point for the panel to sit pretty while MACC continues to act above the law.

Ng Jin Chuang: Maybe there are quarters who want MACC to be closed down so that they won't be tracked. The best is restructure the whole MACC organisation, make it answerable to Parliament. The MACC chief should resign by now.

Josephine: Dead men don't speak. It is sad that in the MACC premises, we have yet another death occurring. Has this MACC office installed with CCTV?

It baffles me that a person would want to commit suicide by jumping off from the third storey. I would have thought that higher floors would be the obvious choice. My condolence to the victim's next of kin.

Anonymous_4196: This incident really put a huge dent into MACC's credibility. I feel sorry for the family of the deceased man. He may have been a suspect, but guilty or not, his safety and well-being whilst in MACC custody must be assured.

I strongly urge the government to form a royal commission of inquiry to investigate and get to the bottom of this.

Malaysian Born: As a Malaysian and a voter, I am really getting pissed off. This is now getting to a point beyond stupidity. What nonsense excuse is going to be floated this time? This is all entirely unacceptable. Any politician or civil servant who tries to cover up or excuse this incident should be thrown out.

We can no longer afford this level of incompetence and mismanagement. The response needs to be decisive and absolute. The cabinet needs to get off its rear end and deal with this now. Once a person is taken into custody, their well-being is entirely in the hands of the authority. Even if in the extreme cases they commit suicide, it is still their responsibility so giving excuses is pointless.

Ferdtan: The death of the custom officer after falling off MACC building is one too many, especially after the controversial fatal fall of TBH. It is not important whether Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed is innocent or guilty of the alleged crime: the fact remains - he died while 'discussing' the case with the MACC investigative officer.

Since Ahmad Sarbani and TBH deaths occurred in MACC buildings, and were officially investigated by the MACC officers, the agency must take responsibility - suicide or otherwise.

Heads of MACC must rolled to prevent another such incidents. We are now afraid of MACC. As a life has been needlessly ended, we express our deepest condolence to the family of Ahmad.

 


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