DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang today poured cold water on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s promise to Tenang folk that the government will unravel the mystery behind Teoh Beng Hock’s death.

lim kit siang and dap Lim said that the only way to find out Teoh’s cause of death was to allow a royal commission of inquiry to probe the matter, especially since the coroner in the recent inquest had ruled that there were pre-fall neck injuries.

“The commission should be a meaningful and high-powered one comprising independent and credible members with the widest terms of reference to ferret out the truth of Teoh’s death and a commitment that the government will accept and implement its findings unlike the Lingam tape commission,” said Lim.  

Lim was commenting on Najib’s speech to the Chinese community in Tenang yesterday, where he claimed that the government too was keen to know the truth behind Teoh’s death.

During his speech, Najib also said that the Tenang by-election on Jan 30 was “bigger than Teoh Beng Hock” and that the polls was “about the future of Malaysia”.  

Custodial deaths must stop

Lim said that Najib’s assertions “cannot be more wrong” because Teoh’s death symbolised the numerous deaths in official custody that have gone unaccounted for.

azlan He said that the polls was about ensuring that there would no longer be suspicious deaths in official custody or shootings, such as in the cases of A Kugan , Aminulrasyid Amzah and M Krishnan .

On Jan 5, coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas gave an open verdict on Teoh’s cause of death, but in doing so, ruled out both suicide and homicide. However, the coroner also ruled that that there was evidence of pre-fall neck injuries found on Teoh.

Following this, Najib announced the formation of the royal commission but specified that its terms of reference would only allow it to look into whether Teoh’s human rights were violated when he was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, prior to his death.

However, critics have urged Najib to expand the commission’s scope to look into the cause of death as well.