IPOH, July 19 — The legal representative for the late Teoh Beng Hock’s family Ramkarpal Singh today said that the investigation into the former’s death is still ongoing and not just restricted to wrongful confinement.
Ramkarpal said he and lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, together with Teoh’s family, met Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas at his chambers today at 3pm to discuss the matter.
The meeting, he said, lasted until 4.30pm.
“The meeting was arranged to discuss various issues pertaining to Teoh’s case, including but not limited to, the reclassification of same under section 342 of the Penal Code recently,” he said in a statement.
“The AG and two other officers explained the status of the case to us at length and assured us that investigations are still ongoing and that the said reclassification was merely administrative and does not, in any way, indicate that investigations into Teoh’s death is only restricted to wrongful confinement at this stage,” he added.
Ramkarpal also said he will arrange a meeting with the Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador together with Teoh’s family soon to discuss the status of the investigation.
“We also discussed on how things can be expedited as the matter has been long outstanding.
“We will continue doing what we can to ensure justice is served and hope the matter is resolved soon,” he further added.
On Wednesday, the AG said that there is insufficient evidence to investigate the death of Teoh Beng Hock under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
Thomas, in a letter to Ramkarpal, said that the instruction from the Chambers to the police to open an Investigation Paper classified under Section 342 of the Penal Code was merely an administrative procedure.
Thomas added that the investigation, under Section 342, is consistent with the Court of Appeal’s finding of the fact that Teoh was not free to leave the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building where he was found dead, although he was never placed under arrest.
In 2009, Teoh, who was the political aide to then-Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after he was interrogated by the Selangor officers from the MACC in its state headquarters, then on the 14th floor of the same building.
A royal commission of inquiry concluded that Teoh was driven to suicide by the aggressive interrogation methods used by MACC officers. It also blamed three officers for their aggressive methods which it said had violated procedures.
