By Debra Chong
Jul 21, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — A royal commission has ruled that Teoh Beng Hock committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers.
The MACC officers had wanted to pressure Teoh to be a witness in their case against a DAP assemblyman for alleged abuse of public funds.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz disclosed the finding today which, he said, was unanimous.
The royal commission of inquiry also found three MACC officers to have breached standard operating procedures.
It recommended that action be taken specifically against the three MACC officers.
Nazri told reporters the government would leave it to the police to take the necessary action against the three MACC officers.
He said the police would have to open an investigation and take the matter up with the Attorney-General’s Chambers for any potential prosecution.
RCI chairman Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen submitted on June 22 the report by the RCI into Teoh’s death two years ago.
The five-man RCI wrapped up its report on June 15 after having heard testimony from 70 witnesses in its bid to unravel the mysterious circumstances behind Teoh’s death.
The 30-year-old DAP political aide was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth-floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after he was questioned overnight by MACC officers at their then-Selangor headquarters on the 14th floor.
The coroner’s inquest had in January returned an “open verdict” ruling out both suicide and homicide some 18 months after Teoh’s death.
The government was then forced to establish the RCI, which first met in February, with two terms of reference: to probe how Teoh plunged to his death and to look into MACC’s investigative methods.
Foong also said only three copies of the report were prepared, one each for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and himself.
The other four members of the RCI were retired Federal Court judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, former Court of Appeals judge T. Selventhiranathan, Penang Hospital senior consultant forensic pathologist Bhupinder Singh and Mohamed Hatta Shaharom who is dean of the Cyberjaya Medical Science College University and a consultant forensic psychiatrist.
The report will be on sale from 10am tomorrow at the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.
The 124-page report is retailing at RM45 a copy and is available in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.
i am still waiting for the day azilah and sirul to be executed… would they ever be?
Committed suicide under pressure?
What kind of logic is that?
Is is telling the public..TBH is weak …cannot stand pressure and the MACC guys questioning him…frightening him so much… he rush out and jump?
Why must ONLY TBH did that?
You mean throughout the history of all being investigated and questions….by MACC..only TBH is the weakest of the lot…cannot stand pressure ….rushed out and jump………committing suicide?
The finding is blaming 3 MACC being not professionals…and TBH being a weakling…cannot stand pressure.
Did he pee or shit…in his pants..or cry like a baby?
Why not?….suck a weakling…must have such signs…NO?
It is not that Malaysians cannot take bad news.
It is the fact the government can do wonders with their powers.
Wait till next Thursday and listen to the French lawyer talk on the submarine deals.
Already revealed in advanced…Najib was he third man.
What is TBH’s case……piece of cake for Najib to get a team to conclude….two wrongs…and therefor voters need to keep their votes undecided.
Moderator…why my comment not approved?
///TBH committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers/// – RCI.
These are facts unchallenged even by MACC:-
1. TBH on July 16th, 2009 underwent 8 hour interrogation by MACC officers ending at 3:45 am.
2. MACC officials claimed that Teoh asked to stay the night at the MACC office, and was seen alive around 6am.
3. Teoh was found dead at 1.30pm later in the day. Inquest found likely time of Teoh’s death was approximately between 7.15am and 11.15am on July 16, 2009. This was based on testimony from pathologists.
If his death were sucide, attributable to MACC’s aggressive and continuous questioning, the sucide and death would probably be during aggressive and continuous questioning and at most approximating the time interrogation ended at 3:45 am. Thats the time the pressure to end one’s life would be greatest. It would NOT be 5 hours later, and being seen around the pantry at 6 am -unless one is crazy enough to speculate that he’s taking his own sweet time to effect suicide, looking for one last meal from all places, MACC’s pantry. Tell the suicide verdict to the Marines. Used to unquestioning marching orders, they might believe.
It follows then that if he was pushed to the brink and committed suicide at the height of the pressures being exerted on him, then there would have been MACC officers present.
It says ‘aggressive and continuous’ questioning. A la Gestapo style? They didn’t have anything against him and only wanted him to be a witness. So why all these ‘aggressive and continuous questioning’ and harassment?
Are the Supervisory Board members doing their jobs?
It follows then that if he was pushed to the brink and committed suicide at the height of the pressures being exerted on him, then there would have been MACC officers present and witnessed it.
It says ‘aggressive and continuous’ questioning. They didn’t have anything against him and only wanted him to be a witness. So why all these ‘aggressive and continuous questioning’ and harassment?
Are the Supervisory Board members doing their jobs?
It says ‘aggressive and continuous’ questioning. They didn’t have anything against him and only wanted him to be a witness. So why all these ‘aggressive and continuous questioning’ and harassment? Doesn’t BH have any human rights?
All the aggressive questionings. Doesn’t BH have any human rights?
God knows …..cows do not jump over the moon.
God knows….TBH would not/ could not have committed suicide.
Is RCI trying to ask me to believe cows do jump over moons?
Not in this time and space, bro.
Report of the Royal Commission of Whitewash
In any case, MACC officers who ‘coerced’ TBH during interrogation …..well, the law may or may not get you here.
Malaysians hope you will all go to hell.
if you used the FBI method to conduct investigation, if the the person failed the lie detector test he will be suspected because FBI lie detector is very accurate and from there on the FBI will find the solid proof to charge them. We know those officer went beyond their standard operating procedure just in the name to produce enough evidence. Even if TBH committed suicide these officer will still be charged because they are the one who is accountable for TBH humiliation during interrogation. Committing suicide is not a spontaneous action,some had though about it for a while ,some just pretend for compassion and some oppurtunist took advantage of the situation and its called assisted suicide.which is which in TBH case?TBH has a girfriend who is two months pregnant,is that a pressure? TBH had to testify against SelangorDAP leaders of corruption although it just a small amount after they became Selangor govt,is that a disgrace for him after all its DAP who’s been accusing BN of corruption all along?Did all of those testify went through FBI style lie detector test in the first place? machines dont lie..humans do…
Lets Publicise all over the world this MACC TBH adfidavits… Spin Nazri Spinning >>trying all means to divert attention altogether ,cover-up for yr Evil Umno Regime deeds and Greedy Umno ruled Goverment Loan sharks .
Come next election PR march into Putrajaya>>>All these UmnoBN TunTan Sri Datuk Datin Lawmakers morons and idiots will be severely punished for their evil deeds and greeds(quietly siphoning Taxpayers monies)
Deja vu Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed’s case?
I suggest we launch a Bersih 2.1!!!
Please no more calls for Royal Commission of any kind! Enough has been seen of how aggrieved families are made to go through their agonizing traumas again once the reports were out. Please spare them from all these infuriating and exasperating verdicts!
How can the government added insult to injury … adding salt to the wound by saying Beng Hock had ‘weak character’?
//#1 i am still waiting for the day azilah and sirul to be executed… would they ever be?//
You ask how long till they’ll be executed
Until the 12th of Never they’ll still be laughing
They’ll still be laughing till the bluebells forget to bloom
They’ll still be laughing the clover has lost its perfume
They’ll still be laughing till the poets run out of rhymes
Until the 12th of Never and that’s a long long time
Until the 12th of Never and that’s a long long time
From news article dated April 12, 2011—
Former MACC suspect and “torture victim” T. Sivanesan recalled the alleged torture he suffered at the hands of the Selangor anti-graft officers. He said that he was repeatedly assaulted when he was being forced to confess to an alleged bribery while in MACC custody between Sept 4 and 8, 2008, about 10 months before Teoh’s death.
During his detention, he alleged that several officers slapped and kicked him with an L-shaped metal rod wrapped in newspapers. His private parts were also caned.
He also claimed that he was handcuffed on both his hands and feet, ordered to strip to his undergarments, blindfolded and had woken up twice with a bag of ice in his underwear.
Sivanesan also claimed the officers also used racial slurs and expletives when they scolded him and also told him: “‘Say the truth or this place will be your hell.’”
He said MACC dropped his case six months later, citing insufficient evidence.
The window restricted the possibility that TBH jumped, even if he sat on the window sill. One pathology said that the body was a bit too far away from the door. It meant that there were external forces to propel his body further away from where his body should land, if TBH dropped himself on his own. Pronthip, the pathologist from Thailand concluded that TBH was unconscious on contact to the floor. TBH could not have been conscious to climb up to the window sill, and suddenly lost his consciousness during the 1.5 seconds fall to the ground.
The RCI members should all be made Tun for coming to a unanimous decision ignoring the above observations.
TTBH was not only murdered, he is being slandered.
UMNO has destroyed all hope remaining in the country. You can’t trust the police, judiciary, EC, MACC, royal commission, education system, economy, etc etc. So, we’re doomed unless UMNO is removed from power. And please, no more RCIs. It’s a waste of time and resources and an insult to every right-thinking Malaysian to see a bunch of puppets in the RCI panel.
The reasons given by the RCI as to what could have contributed to TBH taking his life is just pure speculation.
The position where TBH’s body was located should indicate whether TBH could have on his own strength got himself that far, after falling over 80 feet over 2.25 seconds. Since the window through which TBH exited was hinged on top, TBH could not have jumped without hitting the window and broke it. There was no broken window so TBH did not jump. When the window is open making an angle of 60 degree to the vertical wall, the lower end of the window is only 2 and half feet (half its height of say 5 feet,) above the windowsill. There was no shoe mark on the wall below the windowsill, so TBH did not kick the wall to get off the window sill, if he was sitting on the window sill. If TBH stood on the windowsill his head would have touched the window. In that position had TBH taken his own life, he would have just bent over, and his body would be near the wall. In that case, he might have laid parallel to the wall from where he fell. But TBH was found in the position suggesting that lateral force was used to push him forward away from the wall. That causes one pathologists to remark that the body was ‘usually’ faraway from the wall.
The university lecturer who used ‘aerospace software’ concluded that using the formula which assumed that TBH was like a ball, which did not take into account that a living person might move his arms or make other movements, the distance where the body was found was consistent with where he fell. For the body to be like a ball, TBH must have been unconscious. In other words, on the condition that TBH was unconscious, it was possible to throw his body from that window, clear the window pane and reached the ground where his body was found. So, the lecturer gave evidence that from the location of the body, TBH was unconscious during the fall. That confirms Pornthip’s, the Thai pathologist, expert opinion.
RCI should decide based on evidence and not on speculation.
Continuous aggressive interrogation – meaning manhandled.
How many times we read a RCI report that somewhat protecting the crooks?
And MACC is acting fast like lighting to catch the 3 MACC unprofessional investigators to show to the public ……how fair MACC is.
YET…..5 RCI concluded Mahathir lied at he Lingam case…MACC stooges showed their true colour…….no actions.
Until Najib and his government is voted out…spinning….lying….cheating…provoking…
bullying…fooling Malaysians.will never stop.
Brother Teoh was going to get married the next day! Damn it, he would not have committed suicide. He was murdered, but by whom? The MACC has responsibility by default. Remember the outrageous repetition of this nonsense in the case of Brother Ahmad Sarbaini. How dare they! This government is incapable of reform. It must be shown the door.
RCI in Malaysia is allowed to speculate and what it speculates becomes fact. If RCI was not prepared to launch a full investigation on how TBH died, then it should just conclude that RCI did not know the probable truth. RCI did not give a plausible reason why the conclusion and opinion of Pornthip was not acceptable. They based it on votes! Besides, RCI members did not have the experience of attempted suicide, and they cannot form an opinion from the description of how TBH was tortured to conclude that TBH withstood the interrogation and felt aggrieved that he chose to die so that an RCI would be called. Most Malaysians do not believe that the government would establish a RCI to get to the truth. They believe much less that RCI would do its duties. Now the servicing judge chairing the RCI just confirms what most Malaysians believe. RCI serves the political masters.
A point to ponder. TBH committed suicide was the government’s stand all along. Why the RCI’s report need to hush up for 2 months and under public pressure only to be release? If what’s is true about TBH death as according to the report, why need to be secretive about it? I’m sure the government would be gladly release it once they received it. Anything come out from their mouth smell fishy!
///A senior Selangor anti-graft officer launched a full-scale fund abuse investigation solely on an informant’s “mere belief” and without supporting facts, the royal panel reviewing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) procedures said.///
Why did the RCI dignify the action of the MACC officials in using law of the land to serve their personal interest in saying that they did carry out their duties based on mere belief. In saying that it was ‘mere belief’ RCI did believe that MACC officials were performing the duties expected of them, but RCI pretended to miss what motivated the MACC officials to doing what they had done. When the RCI chose to attribute TBH’s death to his taking his own life because of pressure, which was most ridiculous since he did not kill himself in the room, trying to stop further torments, the RCI gave the benefit of doubts to MACC actions which were motivated by political interest. And it could also be racist too, if speculations are allowed.
RCI has no concrete proof to show the TBH committed suicide. They just speculate and think that intense interogation was the cause. RCI report is absolutely is rubbish, biased, waste of time, perjury n a crime against humanity. MACC has done it many many times so what’s the deal?
///PETALING JAYA – MACC officers were prepared to go to great lengths to lie and form a “blue wall of silence” in the spirit of brotherhood, the RCI revealed.///–AsiaOne
For that spirit of brotherhood to be established, the staff of mono-race helped. That is the outcome of ketuanan Melayu, and the UMNO policy of making government service UMNO service. The spirit of brotherhood is no different from the action of gangsters who believed more in that spirit than in the sense of righteousness. But MACC knows no righteousness and it knows no shame!
Just want to ask our honourable judge James Foong wtf is FORCED SUICIDE??????? Never heard of it before and never found it in CRIMINAL LAW TEXT BOOKS!