Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail must charge the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers accused of “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation” that drove DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock to suicide - or resign.

NONE Demanding that legal action be taken against these MACC) officers, the lawyer for Teoh’s family, Gobind Singh Deo, sardonically said they have not been waiting for two years just for disciplinary action to be taken against the errant officers

“What do you expect us to say? Gani Patail, you are the man, good job?” said Gobind, drawing laughter from the 500-strong crowd a forum on ‘Teoh Beng Hock RCI Report - Where is the promised truth?’ at the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) last night.

On a more serious note, Gobind, who is also DAP’s national legal bureau chairperson, pointed out that although there were no provisions to charge the officers with driving Teoh to suicide, there were provisions under the Penal Code to make them answerable for their other crimes.

NONE Besides Gobind ( right ), DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, Teoh’s employer Ean Yong Hian Wah, PAS vice-president Husam Musa and Teoh’s sister Lee Lan also attended the forum.

Last week the MACC said it had suspended the three officers - Negri Sembilan MACC director Hishamuddin Hashim (who was the Selangor MACC deputy director during Teoh's death) and enforcement officers Mohd Anuar Ismail and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus - all of whom are said to be responsible for Teoh’s death.

Citing Section 330 on voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession, Gobind said the trio, if found guilty, could face a prison term of a maximum seven years and/or be fined.

Similarly, they could also be charged with causing death by negligence, as provided for under Section 304A, or even with presenting false evidence during a a judicial proceeding under Section 193, he added.

“The AG is the only one who can prosecute, and he must inspire confidence by taking action when the RCI comes up with recommendations.

“If he (Abdul Gani) says there is no section under the Penal Code under which he can take action, come here now and debate with me and I will tell you which sections.

“If he cannot take action, then he must explain why action cannot be taken, and if he cannot explain why action cannot be taken he must resign!” he said, drawing another thunderous round of applause.

Baffling RCI report

Gobind said that after two years of waiting, questions over Teoh’s death had yet to be answered, “police investigations, then the inquest, and after that the RCI - and we are still here”.

“The RCI came up with a report that baffles us, it has shown us the police are incompetent,” he said.

NONE The RCI report says the trio had carried out a fourth round of intensive interrogation , which was described as the “final straw that broke the camel’s back”, leading to Teoh’s suicide.

Paragraph 198 of the RCI report reads: “The acts committed by these three persons, namely Hishamuddin, Anuar, and Ashraf, were most probably in the form of another round of intensive interrogation of Teoh to coerce him into making a statement that it was (Seri Kembangan state representative) Ean Yong Hian Wah who directed him to commit unlawful acts in handling the allocation.

The anti-graft body has also formed a special investigation team led by MACC deputy chief commissioner Zakaria Jaffar to carry out an internal probe into the findings against the three in the RCI report.

azlan Lim, on the other hand, called for the case to be reopened for investigations following the findings and recommendations in the RCI report.

“The report stated that there was a fourth interrogation on Teoh, this is new evidence for the police to investigate what happened,” Lim said.

“There were also those who went to great lengths to lie about what happened... the case should be reopened,” he added.  

Teoh, who was political aide to Ean Yong, was found dead on the fifth-floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, after he was questioned overnight by MACC officers at their then-Selangor headquarters on the 14th floor.

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