Beng Hock's family slams NFA, demands Anwar honour justice pledge

Summary

• Teoh Beng Hock’s family decries the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ decision to classify the reopened probe into his 2009 death as “no further action”, calling it a betrayal of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's reform promises.

• Sister Teoh Lee Lan criticises the continued lack of accountability from MACC and police, demanding the case be investigated as murder under Section 302, not wrongful confinement.

• She urges Anwar to fulfil his pledges of justice and reform, lamenting that hopes for a “new Malaysia” remain unfulfilled 16 years after Teoh’s death.

The recent decision by authorities to classify police investigations into Teoh Beng Hock’s death as no further action (NFA) does not reflect promises previously made by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said Beng Hock’s sister. 

Teoh Lee Lan said her family is deeply disappointed by the decision, which was determined by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and conveyed via the police. 

She said that upon being notified of the letter from the police Criminal Investigation Department informing them of the AGC’s decision, the family questioned whether they were “still trapped in the era of BN’s rule.”

“The same MACC remains unaccountable. The same police force refuses to investigate the MACC. The same opaque conclusions are drawn and the same murderers walk free,” Lee Lan (above) told a press conference at the Karpal Singh & Co law firm in Petaling Jaya today.

“On Aug 1 last year, (Anwar) urged the Teoh family to trust the ‘new police force’ and ‘new system’ under his government. 

“But, what has this so-called ‘new system’ given the Teoh family? Only continued disappointment,” she lamented.

Probes find MACC officers culpable

In 2009, Beng Hock, an aide to then-Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead after overnight questioning at Selangor MACC, which was then headquartered at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.

A 2011 Royal Commission of Inquiry ruled he was driven to suicide due to aggressive interrogation.

However, in 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled his death was caused or accelerated by unlawful acts, including those of MACC officers.

READ MORE | Will Teoh Beng Hock's case find closure under Harapan rule?

On Nov 21 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the police to complete the investigation into his death within six months after appeals court judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh allowed a judicial review application by Teoh’s parents.

Lee Lan also reiterated the family’s dissatisfaction with investigations being conducted under Section 342 of the Penal Code relating to wrongful confinement.

She argued that probes should instead be under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, in line with the appellate court’s 2014 ruling.

‘Were we just pawns?’

Demanding answers from Anwar, Lee Lan said the closing of investigations through the NFA classification has left her family to suffer in anguish with frustration.

“If Malaysia Madani means perpetuating a system of darkness and oppression, what is the point of political change?” she questioned. 

“Was the vision of reform that Beng Hock once dreamed of, and the promises of justice the Teoh family believed in, merely pawns in the game of seizing power?”

She highlighted that Anwar had earlier guaranteed that investigations into Beng Hock’s death would not drag on indefinitely and would reach a conclusive outcome to deliver justice to the family and the public.

“We urge the prime minister to honour his promises. The people of Malaysia placed their hopes in the Pakatan Harapan-led unity government for institutional reforms and accountability. 

“Our elderly parents cannot endure endless delays. It is time to fulfil the pledge of a new Malaysia and ensure justice prevails,” she stressed.

Multiple fruitless probes

During Harapan’s first stint in Putrajaya under then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership, the cabinet had agreed to reopen investigations into Beng Hock’s death.

READ MORE | Five unsolved mysteries about Teoh Beng Hock’s death

Before the case was reopened, two special investigation teams were formed in 2011 and again in 2015. However, both probes were similarly classified as NFA.

In February this year, police said they would utilise 3D crime scene reconstruction technology to assist in their renewed investigation.

However, later that month, Beng Hock’s family accused the police of repeatedly questioning them instead of the MACC officers implicated in his death.

In April, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Shuhaily Zain claimed that the family was being uncooperative, a charge the family has since denied.

Suhaily also said that the investigations were hampered by limitations, including an inability to interview witnesses from the incident, which took place 16 years ago, and the refusal of some witnesses to come forward. 

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