Tuesday, August 23, 2011

DAP wants police action on Teoh’s interrogators


Klang MP Charles Santiago says no action has been taken against the three MACC officers since the release of the RCI findings.

KLANG: DAP MP Charles Santiago today lodged a police report demanding an investigation into the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which implicated three Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers in the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

“We want the police to act on the findings which said that torture had contributed to the death of Teoh… there was criminal intent,” Santiago, the Klang MP, told reporters after lodging the report at the Klang police headquarters here.

The RCI had ruled that Teoh, the former political aide to a Selangor executive councillor, had committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous interrogation methods.

It blamed three officers – former Selangor MACC deputy director Hishammuddin Hashim and enforcement officers Arman Alies and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus – for his death.

The three in the RCI report were described as “Arman the bully, Ashraf the abuser and HH the arrogant leader” and recommended action against them.

Police, however, said there are no laws to charge the three while the MACC launched an internal probe and promised to implement other RCI recommendations, including conducting questioning on the ground floor and installing cameras.

But former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said the three can be charged under Section 193 of the Penal Code. (Section 193 prescribes seven years’ jail and fine for giving false evidence at judicial proceedings.)

‘Justice has to be done’


Santiago concurred with the view after consultations with his lawyers and demand police investigate the three under Section 193.

“In fact, the police don’t have to wait for a report to be lodged to launch an investigation,” he said.

He added that it has been close to two months now since the release of the RCI report and no action has been taken against the three MACC officers.

“Justice has to be done for Teoh,” said Santiago.

Teoh, 30, was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after he was questioned overnight for alleged graft at the then MACC Selangor headquarters on the 14th floor.

The RCI cleared Teoh and his boss, Sri Kembangan state assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, from corruption charges.

Teoh’s family has rejected the RCI’s verdict and is considering applying for a judicial review on its findings.

No comments:

Post a Comment