MCA echoing Perkasa's sentiment

Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek dismissed calls for a royal commission to probe Teoh Beng Hock’s death, whose scope has been limited to anti-graft investigation methods.

“The Attorney-General already said he would file for a revision (of the verdict) to look into the cause of death,”

The PM said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had expressed his dissatisfaction with Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas’s verdict and would file for a revision soon at the Shah Alam High Court.

Najib has also said the RCI could not look into the cause of Teoh’s death as the law mandated such investigations to be done through the coroner’s office.

Teoh’s family, the Bar Council and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), however, have demanded the PM to expand the powers of the RCI.

At a press conference yesterday, Malay rights pressure group Perkasa has urged the federal government not to proceed with its plan to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into political aide Teoh Beng Hock's death.

Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali said there was no need for the commission because the inquest had already declared an open verdict on his cause of death.

"We should all just leave it to the police to handle the matter and take action against the guilty party," said Ibrahim.

Given that the courts had already decided on the matter, having the commission to probe the matter was tantamount to disrespecting the courts and a waste of public funds.

"(What) if this commission does work? What else will we establish next?" Ibrahim asked.

He explained that the inquest will serve no purpose because the matter had already been presented in an open court.

“Of course, we are saddened about his passing but this should not be the way,” he said.

Ibrahim adds that the establishment of the commission would also serve as fodder for the opposition.

Meanwhile, Teoh family’s lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, said yesterday it was meaningless and a waste of public funds to set up an RCI that could not investigate how Teoh had plunged to his death.

Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan also stressed that the Najib administration was obliged to give the family closure.

Teoh’s sister Lee Lan accused Najib yesterday of failing to honour his promise that the Teoh family would know how her brother died.

She expressed her disappointment with Najib’s announcement of setting up an RCI that lacked the powers to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding Teoh’s death.

Lee Lan pointed out that the coroner had noted there were pre-fall injuries and had singled out the injury to Teoh’s neck.

She also said when the family met Najib two years ago after Teoh died, the PM personally pledged he would see to it the family will know how Teoh fell nine floors to his death.

However, Dr Chua questioned Lee Lan’s claims of Najib’s vow to the family.

“Do you know what the prime minister said to the family? Were you there?” he asked a reporter who had highlighted Lee Lan’s claims.

“It is not fair to say what the family said is true and what the prime minister said is not true,” added Dr Chua.

He also stressed that Teoh’s death should not be used to gain political mileage.

“We extend our fullest sympathy but it should not be politicised,” he said.

Teoh's death is suspicious, but the intent of the deceased could not be proved

The cause of political aide Teoh Beng Hock's death on July 16, 2009 is still a mystery after an inquest stretching 18 months. Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas ruled out suicide and homicide and delivered an open verdict to a packed courtroom this afternoon.

The "open verdict" was not well received by Teoh's family and various other interested parties who demanded for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI).

In delivering his 20-page decision, Azmil said his role was to determine when, where, how and after what manner Teoh, the aide to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, came to his death on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam and whether any person was criminally concerned in the cause of death.

WHEN: Based on the testimony of pathologists Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim, Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar and Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, Azmil established that Teoh died between 7.15am and 11.15am.

WHERE: It is "irrefutable" that Teoh, died on a service corridor on Plaza Masalam’s 5th floor.

On HOW and AFTER WHAT MANNER Teoh died, whether anyone was criminally involved, Azmil narrated how he first considered and dismissed suicide.

"In considering suicide, I find that there remain some unsettled issues which are still questionable," he said.

"To fulfil this verdict of suicide would entail some form of guesswork on my part to connect the dots, so to speak, which I find as not acceptable. I rule out the verdict the deceased committed suicide," he said to a hushed courtroom.

Azmil said he also considered if Teoh had a suicidal intention based on the testimony of Teoh’s brother Meng Kee and a note found in Teoh’s bag.

"Handwriting expert Wong Kong Yong testified and produced two reports. However, his evidence only goes as far as to establish that the writing is similar to documents found in Teoh’s bag," he said.

Azmil pointed out two unresolved issues.

"The documents were not ascertained to contain Teoh’s handwriting, and no samples of Teoh’s writing were obtained for the purpose of the examination by Wong," he said, adding that it was settled law that evidence of a handwriting expert could never be conclusive as it was only opinion evidence.

He also noted the testimony of Meng Kee that Beng Hock did not have any suicidal tendencies and also acknowledged the submissions of Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecution head Datuk Abdul Razak Musa.

"It was assumed that Teoh felt so guilty and was afraid to leave the MACC office because he was ashamed to face society, especially his boss (Ean Yong).

It was also submitted that Teoh was seen to be agitated, uneasy and looked guilty," said Azmil, who added that as a coroner, he was not qualified to make his own assessment "purely from such assumptions".

"At best, I can only assume the note was authored by Teoh, but I am not qualified to say it is a suicide note," he said.

Azmil also ruled out homicide due to inconsistencies in the theories put forward by pathologists, noting closely a 4cm x 3cm bruise on Teoh’s neck. He noted that three doctors had all not ruled out pre-fall pressure to the neck region.

“Evidence showed that Teoh did not have these injuries when he went into the MACC office, and you and I know he never left the MACC office.

“So how did he come by these injuries and who is responsible? These questions are of grave significance… do we just sit by and let it be?” asked the Teoh family's lawyer Gobind Singh Deo.

“You rule out accident and suicide then what else is left? The family cannot have closure,”

A Hundred Thousand Signatures for Beng Hock

18 Nov 2010

Press Statement by Malaysians for Beng Hock

Malaysians for Beng Hock is now launching a three month long signature campaign in which 100,000 signatures will be sought from the public to petition for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in order to investigate Teoh Beng Hock’s cause of death. It now appears that an independent, credible and professional RCI is the best way to bring about justice to Beng Hock’s family, as the coroner’s inquest has failed to provide answers the most crucial questions surrounding Beng Hock’s death in a believable way. The public can sign the petition online at http://www.petitiononline.com/m4bh or contact us for a hard copy petition form.

When the Malaysians for Beng Hock movement was launched, it was made clear that “Everyone is Beng Hock as long as justice is still denied”. If the government could not execute a thorough investigation on Beng Hock’s death and severely punish the perpetrators who were involved in the death and alleged torture of Beng Hock; If the authority which was entrusted to investigate crimes and protect the people could neither uncover the truth nor answer allegations of state torture, all Malaysians would lose their confidence in criminal justice system as well as their sense of security as law abiding citizens.

In the past year, the injustice suffered by Beng Hock’s family had brought about a lot of tears, anger, and pain. We urge the public and the civil society to turn their unhappiness into forces of hope, and to translate their sympathy into concrete actions. We urge everyone to carry out these three simple steps in order to support Beng Hock and his family:

1) Sign the petition in support of RCI into Beng Hock’s death, and help seek more signatures by carrying out a local signature campaign in your neighbourhood or town.

2) For NGOs, clubs and associations, produce two banners demanding “Justice for Beng Hock, Truth for Rakyat”. Send one to Malaysians for Beng Hock, display the other on your office/ centre.

3) Attend the upcoming “Justice for Beng Hock, Truth for Rakyat” mammoth gathering in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysians for Beng Hock will announce the details of the event at a later date.

While demanding justice and truth for Beng Hock, we will also appeal to the government to enact a Human Rights Act in order to safeguard the basic human rights of all Malaysian citizens, rectifying institutional infringement of human rights and preventing incidences such as Beng Hock’s mentally- tortuous marathon questioning session and witnesses being denied legal assistance during questioning from happening again.

Please contact our coordinators Ng Yap Hwa (012-2658448) or Chong Kok Siong (012-2138610) if you are interested to assist our petition campaign and send banners to us. You can also send an email to msians4benghock@gmail.com or visit our blog at http://malaysiansforbenghock.wordpress.com for more information.

Chong Kok Siong

Coordinator

Malaysians for Beng Hock

 Malaysiakini:"Beng Hock support group seeks 100,000 signatures"

Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand is “sure” that the death of Teoh Beng Hock was not a suicide !

Thai Central Institute of Forensic Science’s director Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand is “sure” that the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock was not a suicide.

However, she declined to put a percentage on how much she believed his death was due to homicide.

When she initially testified last year, Dr Pornthip said she believed there was an 80% possibility that Teoh's death was homicide.

When asked why she declined to quote a percentage, Dr Pornthip said: "That time, I had to convince the judge (coroner) to do a second post-mortem, so I had to give a percentage."

She also revealed that the pathologists who carried out the first post-mortem had failed to open the skin at the sacrum (the bone at the base of the spine) area and posterior part of the thigh to identify the nature of injuries there.

Dr Pornthip had initially testified that the marks on the thigh may have been due to a beating and the tear to Teoh's anus was a penetrative wound.

However, she said after having the skin from both the regions opened up at the second post mortem in November last year, she was able to say that both the injuries were due to Teoh's fall.

Dr Pornthip also told coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas that she still maintained her opinion that Teoh had sustained pre-fall injuries.

Pornthip, who has more than 25 years' experience in forensic crime scene investigation, said the injuries found on Teoh (right) were inconsistent with other cases of suicide from jumping that she had investigated.

She said the lack of fractures on Teoh's wrists, as well as a cerebral edema (swelling of the brain) indicate that he was unconscious when he landed, confirming that he did not commit suicide.

If he was conscious, she said, he would have broken his fall with his hands and sustained injuries to his wrists.

She said only one ankle was fractured, unlike most suicide by jumping cases, adding that the fracture had a wound around it, suggesting that it was due to the impact of the fall.

Pornthip also testified the skull injury was not a ring fracture, often found in cases of suicide by jumping.

Instead the fracture was caused by either a fall or beating using blunt objects.

The second autopsy, she said, revealed that the bruise on Teoh's neck was likely caused by blunt force and not by the fall, as suggested by Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar of the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre.

"My staff and I have examined 34 to 35 cases of falls from height and none showed a serious wound like the one on (Teoh's) neck," she said.

But the injury was at a "protected area of the neck" eliminating the possibility that it was hit by an object before or during the fall.

Rather, she said, it indicates a sort of neck hold, but not from manual strangulation, as the force administered was greater than that of a human grip.

She said the bruise was unlike that caused by injury to the spine or chin. The chin area does not have blood vessels which could cause such excessive bleeding and a wound that large.

Pornthip also refuted the findings of Teoh 2nd autopsy, pathologist Dr Peter Vaneziz who had said there was no compression to the neck which occurred for a significant period of time, as the injury indicates that he Teoh's neck was pressed down to an object.

The swelling of the brain also indicates that he was deprived of oxygen for "at least five minutes", either through blockage of a vein, artery or trachea, consistent with the hypothesis of a neck hold.

Pornthip testified that Teoh did not land on its feet as Vaneziz suggested, and that the evidence indicates there was sliding.

However, she found that the anal tear previously believed to suggest possible penetration was in fact caused by injuries to the buttock region due to the fall.

MACC prosecution head Abdul Razak Musa suggests that her testimony is based on her imagination. Pornthip refutes this, saying it is based on her work.

Razak notes that she is not qualified as a forensic expert in Malaysia as the university from which she graduated is not recognised in Malaysia. Pornthip replies that the university is one of the top five in Asia - some in the public gallery applaud.

Razak puts it to Pornthip that Teoh strangled himself. He says that the other four doctors had found no such evidence of strangulation.

Gobind stands up and asks Razak to demonstrate how one can strangle himself. Razak makes an attempt, to laughter from the gallery.

Razak asks her how Teoh could be dead on the 14th floor (where the Selangor MACC office is located in Plaza Masalm, Shah Alam) but alive on the ground.

Razak sounds muddled, causing coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to chuckle. Azmil explains to Razak that what Pornthip meant was that Teoh was likely unconscious during the fall and not dead.

Razak also asks if she has experience jumping off a building as she has testified that the body was found further from the building than in the usual case of suicide by jumping.

Malik stands up to say that Razak is trying to put words into Pornthip's mouth. "The way he is asking questions makes us want to jump off ourselves!"

Razak puts it to Pornthip that her opinion is different from that of the other four doctors who were present during the second autopsy.

Razak: One against four...

Pornthip: You have to respect the judge (coroner) who will make the decision.

Razak: We work on majority.

There were loud groans from the gallery.

'Police, MACC need to get to bottom of mystery letter'

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) called on the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to carry out prompt, thorough and unbiased investigations into the letter which surfaced on Wednesday during the inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

Its secretary-general Dr Loi Kheng Min said in a statement issued here today, the police and MACC "need to uncover the truth and bring any wrongdoers to book."

He also called on the government to have the political will to seriously fight corruption as one of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRAs).

"A good start is to put MACC not only back on track to be an independent body but also to adhere to the principles and procedures of the United Nations Convention on Corruption (UNCAC)," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) wants the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct a “thorough and unbiased” investigation into the mystery letter which surfaced this week in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest.

In a statement today TI-M said it believes that the independent advisory panel committees of MACC must “comprehensively review and revamp” the MACC if the allegations are proven to be true.

“The mysterious letter alleges a very serious crime by a top ranking officer of an institution that should be impartial, just and honourable.

“We expect MACC to be totally independent, managed by professionals with high integrity, to discharge its duty without fear or favour and to use its resources productively to curb and combat corruption,” Dr. Loi Kheng Min said in the press statement.

The TI-M secretary-general also wants the government to make the fight against corruption as one of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRAs).

“A good start would be to put MACC not only back on track to be an independent body but also to adhere to the principles and procedures of the United Nations Convention on Corruption (UNCAC),” he said.

The mystery letter delivered on August 18th to Gobind Singh Deo, the lawyer for Teoh’s family, was sent by anonymous parties claiming to be “MACC officers” who urged the authorities to probe a senior anti-graft officer for corruption and involvement in the DAP political aide’s death.

The letter, written in Bahasa Malaysia and allegedly sent by unnamed Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers, named a senior official of MACC as someone who was personally involved in questioning Teoh in the final hours before he died.

The letter does not say how Teoh actually died, but suggested an account of what happened during questioning.

Besides the description of the senior official, a string of allegations against him are also contained in the letter.

The letter accuses the senior official of widespread corruption involving previous investigations.

It also accuses the senior officer of acting on the instruction of Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo from the time he was the Selangor mentri besar to initiate investigations into possible corruption involving the current government.

In the letter, a number of previous investigations purportedly involving Khir’s administration are listed, and the senior officer was said to have covered up those cases.

Khir has denied the allegations or even knowing the senior MACC official.

Magistrate Azmil Muntapha Abas, who is acting as coroner in the inquest into Teoh’s death, had recently ordered the police investigating officer, ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal, to immediately look into the contents of the letter and check all its claims.

Loi said that TI-M was encouraged by the directive of the coroner to the police to investigate the mystery letter and welcomes the MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed’s consideration on an independent complaints committee to look into the allegations.

( Source:"Transparency International calls for prompt investigation into mystery letter")

Teoh 'Facial injuries may be due to beating' !

DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock may have been injured before he fell to his death on July 16, the government pathologist who carried out the autopsy today told the coroner’s court.

Dr Khairul Aznam Ibrahim from the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) in Klang admitted that he could not determine that the multiple injuries found on Teoh were the direct result of the injuries taken when he hit the ground.

Teoh had sustained massive injuries, some which are being disputed. They include a fractured skull, 22 broken ribs, certain marks which look like fingernail scratches and a punctured anus.

He added that he assumed the injuries were all a direct result of the fall because he did not see any “defensive injuries” on the deceased, pointing out the lack of cuts on Teoh's palms in his autopsy report.

He had earlier explained that under ordinary conditions, a falling person would instinctively stretch out his hands to try to slow down his fall.

There was also no trace of solid food found in Teoh’s stomach, which suggests that Teoh may have been starving and in a weakened state when he died.

The pathologist explained that a person typically takes four hours to digest food.

Dr Khairul added that Teoh may still have been alive after his body hit the 5th floor landing as his hands were found clenched, indicating he had tried to move and hold on to something.

He also put Teoh’s time of death as early as 5am on July 16.

“The estimated time of around 5am is material as CCTV recordings show that some of Teoh's investigation team left after that time,” Malik, who is acting for the Selangor government, clarified with The Malaysian Insider, referring to the security cameras monitoring the lobby floor of Plaza Masalam’s office tower block.

Under intense interrogation from lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, the senior medical forensic expert said Teoh’s body was showing signs of decomposition by the time he performed the autopsy at noon the next day

During the inquest, he quizzed Dr Khairul, referring to autopsy photographs, about the cause of some marks resembling fingernail scratches on Teoh's right hand just around where a wristwatch face would have been.

Malik: Could it have been caused by someone pulling on his watch?

Dr Khairul: It's difficult to say.

Dr Khairul seemed reluctant to give an opinion on the alleged fingernail marks, claiming that it could have been a result of the wrist flexing up and backwards hitting the spot indicated in the autopsy photos. In his report, he had not recorded any injury on the top of the hand.

The normally soft-spoken Malik blew up.

Malik: This was no intentional jumping. He fell out of the window with several people near him. He fell, as the result of an accident, and someone grabbed his hand. His watch came off because we have not found the watch!

Dr Khairul: Possibility is, yes.

Questions were also raised on the severe injuries to Teoh's buttocks, especially the anus which was found punctured.

Both Malik and Gobind, representing Teoh's family, took it in turns to put forward the idea that the deceased could have been beaten at the rear end, causing an injury there which worsened when Teoh later fell to his death.

Dr Khairul replied that it was possible, and reluctantly suggested it could have been caused by a flat, wooden object when Gobind pressed him on the issue.

But, he insisted that the puncture wound was caused by the sacrum, a bone located just above the anus, which broke off upon Teoh's impact on the ground and penetrated the rectum.

At the start of today’s inquest, Dr Khairul admitted he had found no facts to support his theory that Teoh, who was due to register his marriage to sweetheart Soh Cher Wei after a two-year courtship, had committed suicide.

Dr Khairul had interviewed Teoh’s elder brother and younger sister as well as his 29-year-old teacher fiancee on the same day.

It was so he could find out the deceased’s psychological background and whether there had been any suicidal tendencies or substance abuse.

Khairul said the facts showed that Teoh was not susceptible to suicide.

Teoh’s elder brother told him that the deceased was an “open and talkative person”, the pathologist added.

But Dr Khairul admitted, under intense grilling from Gobind, that he did not interview any of the anti-graft officers to check the possibility of a motive for murder, despite knowing that the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah had been subjected to an interrogation before he died.

“That is the duty of the police. Not me,” Dr Khairul replied.

(Source : Teoh may have been injured before death fall )