KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — The Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy said the corruption charge against the judge who presided over the political aide’s death inquest has put the outcome under suspicion.
Noting that Sessions Court judge Azmil Muntapha Abas was charged with corruption in a high-profile case by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the group said the development suggested a need to review his decision in Teoh’s death inquest.
It said Azmil’s open verdict for the inquest had caused dissatisfaction, especially after he conceded that Teoh had suffered an injury to his neck prior to his fall.
The Court of Appeal overruled Azmil’s findings in 2014.
“Therefore, Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy urges the government to conduct a thorough investigation on the possible undue influence and monetary benefits involved in the inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock,” it said in a statement.
It further demanded that the police act on the report it lodged earlier this year seeking murder investigations against 10 MACC officers implicated in Teoh’s death.
Azmil was charged last week along with deputy public prosecutor Khairul Azhwa Yusrie Ahmad and private lawyer Noor Amirul Nazreen Anas with taking bribes in connection with the detention and release of 15 illegal immigrants last July.
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 Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission 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.
