The government has said the rights of MACC officer Hishamuddin Hashim cannot be denied by "assumptions" that he had a hand in the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

 

During Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim's speech in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, he said holding back Hishamuddin’s career would result in legal implications and a loss of his expertise.

 

As an example, Razali ( right ) said there has been a legal precedent where a civil servant won compensation after it was found that he was denied promotion on flawed disciplinary charges.

 

In July 2009, Teoh was found dead after falling nine floors from the 14 th floor of the Selangor MACC headquarters where he had been held overnight for interrogation.

 

Hishamuddin was then the Selangor MACC deputy director. He, along with two other MACC personnel, was fingered by a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on Teoh's death.

 

The RCI had deduced that the trio's tactics had driven Teoh to commit suicide and described Hishamuddin as an " arrogant leader " and dishonest person.

Following this, the MACC suspended the three officers pending investigations. Eventually, investigators cleared Hishamuddin and the two others.

 

'Arrogant leader' promoted

 

At some point before the conclusion of the RCI, Hishamuddin had been promoted to Negeri Sembilan MACC director and this year it was revealed that he now heads the Sabah MACC as director.

 

Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Kulai) in the Dewan Rakyat recently questioned the continued retention of Hishamuddin as MACC director, stressing that the Court of Appeal last September ruled that Teoh did not commit suicide and MACC and the officers involved must be held responsible for Beng Hock's death.

 

Responding to this, Razali accused Teo ( left ) of selectively choosing parts of the verdict to support her position.

 

He then read out portions of the verdict to disprove Nie Ching:

 

"Such a verdict is more truthful to the statutory language, and it is not strictly necessary to mention homicide expressly. [...]

 

"It needs to be emphasised that in coming to our conclusion, the verdict is part of the investigation process.

 

"No criminal or civil liability of any specific person or persons is established."

 

Razali claimed that these paragraphs had "clearly" not stated Hishamuddin was involved in Beng Hock's death.

 

"Moreover, the Court of Appeal had stressed on allegations that there was a suicide note, and that it needs to be investigated," he said.

 

He added that police had * re-opened investigations * as soon as the Court of Appeal reached the verdict.

 

However, it is telling that in the Court of Appeal decision, all three judges ruled, “The death of Teoh Beng Hock was caused by multiple injuries from a fall from the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam as a result of or which was accelerated by an unlawful act or acts of persons unknown, inclusive of the MACC officers who were involved in the arrest and investigations of the deceased.”