Nearly a decade after the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy has issued a two-month deadline to the police to complete its investigations into the case.
Beng Hock Trust questions why seven-month delay in reopening probe into death
Lawyer Ramkarpal smells a cover-up with the silence on reopening Beng Hock’s investigation
The NGO’s secretary Ngeow Chow Ying said the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) had sent a letter to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun in June 2018, which demanded investigations into Teoh’s death to be reopened.
“It has been seven months already and we still have no news and updates about the investigations.”
She said it would be surprising if Fuzi had never received it.
“If the IGP had received the instruction, then he must explain why police have refused to carry out fresh investigations.
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“Does it mean the IGP is against the Cabinet decision or there is political interference?
“We have waited so long but we still have no news or update on the investigation.
“That is why we are here today, to remind them that the job is not done yet and we are waiting for justice,” Ngeow said.
In July, Fuzi was reported as saying that police would comply with the AGC’s instructions to conduct further investigations into Teoh’s death.
He said police would resubmit their findings to the AGC for further action.
However, in October, Fuzi said police had yet to hear from the AGC on instructions to reopen investigations into Teoh’s death.
Ngeow handed over a memorandum to the Federal police headquarters corporate communications head Faizal Samsuddin at Bukit Aman on Thursday (Jan 10).
“We are happy that Faizal accepted our memorandum. We have given them two months to complete investigations and we are expecting that as a responsible police force, they should at least give the family, and Malaysians, some answers,” she told reporters.
The NGO’s spokesman Ng Yap Hwa, who was also present with Ngeow, said the police would be in serious violation of their duties if they decided not to reopen investigations.
“The Cabinet made the decision in June last year to reopen the case. If the police decide otherwise, does it mean they are against Cabinet decision?
“I think the new government must instruct the police to speed up investigations,” Ng said.
The group, however, did not elaborate on what they would do if the police decided not to heed their calls to reopen investigations.
The memorandum, in expressing disappointment over alleged inaction by the police over the matter, had also proposed a special task force to monitor investigations.
It suggested that the task force should comprise the police, AGC, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), the Bar Council, former court of appeal judge Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer and academician Prof Azmi Sharom.
“We emphasise that the previous re-investigation led by police Comm Datuk Seri Amar Singh was a disappointing one.
“We contend that the new investigation cannot solely rely on the police and AGC alone,” it added.
Meanwhile, lawyer Ramkarpal Singh said today that the authorities’ failure to re-investigate the death of Beng Hock despite the attorney-general’s agreement raises suspicions of concealment.
Expressing disappointment with Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Ramkarpal reminded the former that he previously said the 2009 case would be restarted.
“The failure of the minister of Home Affairs to direct the Inspector-General of Police to reopen investigations into the death of Teoh Beng Hock despite being urged to do so by the Attorney-General is baffling and deeply regretted.
“The failure to instruct the IGP to act immediately raises grave suspicion of the possibility of a cover-up in Teoh’s death,” Ramkarpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, said in a statement.
He told Muhyiddin that the family of Teoh, a political aide who died while being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2009, deserves to learn the truth of his suspicious death.
“Why has Muhyiddin not instructed the IGP to reopen investigations into Teoh’s death despite the fact that the Court of Appeal itself has found evidence of foul play surrounding Teoh’s death and that the A-G himself is of the view that investigations into his said death ought to be reopened?”
The lawyer concluded by telling Muhyiddin to urgently direct the police to initiate a fresh investigation into the matter, emphasising that there was no valid reason to refuse.
