From The Star Online:
Did someone call Teoh Beng Hock's family money grubbers?
by nathaniel tan
THE Attorney General and the Royal Malaysian Police have now reclassified their investigation into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, who died in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC), almost 10 years ago.
The case was previously investigated under Section 304 of the Penal Code, which covers culpable homicide.
It has now reportedly been reclassified under Section 342 of the Penal Code, which deals with the much less serious offence of wrongful confinement.
This is especially perplexing because as has been pointed out, the Court of Appeal ruled in 2014 that one or more people had caused Teoh's death while he was in MACC custody.
In light of this finding, it is extremely irregular for the police or the Attorney General to reclassify the case as such.
I can only imagine how incredibly upsetting this must be for the Teoh family.
Malaysians were filled with new hope and great expectations with the change of government following the 14th General Election.
For the Teoh family, that hope was of a much more poignant and personal nature than most.
I think none of us should ever presume to know or understand the pain of having lost a son, brother, and husband to a violent death while in custody of the authorities.
That said, I think it is not in the least unreasonable to expect some degree of sensitivity from our leaders in the government.
Commenting on the reclassification, Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying:
"From what we were informed, this case was concluded many years ago and almost every process in the law had been conducted including forming a royal commission of inquiry and payment of compensation to Teoh Beng Hock's family.
"There is no issue with that but when the family has received compensation, and they continue to demand more, I would just leave the matter to the Attorney General."
This articulation and line of reasoning seems extremely offensive, as it implies that the Teoh family has already "gotten paid", and are now unreasonably "asking for more".
A government – let us not forget – that Muhyiddin himself was part of at that time.
Another news portal quoted him as saying: "The family is not satisfied even though they have accepted the compensation; they are still urging for more action."
So, is the Teoh family supposed to just take the money and shut up?
Lawyer and Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has stated clearly that legally, the settlement suit is made completely without prejudice to the criminal investigation.
Muhyiddin makes it sound like the Teoh family should be content with the money, and not care one whit about justice, or finding the truth.
Perhaps he needs to remember that he is no longer in Umno.
It always pains me to have to take this kind of angle, but sometimes we need to call a spade a spade, and wonder aloud if there is a racial element to this.
Is there a reluctance to expose the MACC to an investigation genuinely interested in uncovering the truth, because of the Malay-Chinese angle to this whole thing?
A judge who upheld the open verdict returned by the coroner's court in the Teoh's case, Abd Rahim Uda, has now been appointed to the task force looking into the disappearances of pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.
The extremely lack of diversity of any sort on that task force also raised many eyebrows.
If we fall victim to this habit of letting racial considerations inform our every decision – to the point where even the search for truth and justice becomes secondary – then we will truly have stepped back into the toxic waters of the old Malaysia.
Teoh's death galvanised countless Malaysians, and solidified their resolve to unseat the Barisan Nasional government.
If people like Muhyiddin think they are gaining some sort of points with Malay voters by pulling stunts like this, it would appear they are in for a rude shock.
All they will do is alienate the people who had been behind Pakatan Harapan all along.
In any case, the minister, the Attorney General and the police should be extremely aware of the pitfalls of sacrificing principle for political expediency.
No amount of money will ever make up for the loss of a loved one. I am certain that the Teoh family will not rest until the truth has been revealed, and justice served.
DAP is in a trap of its own making.
ReplyDeleteThe original tragedy of Teoh Beng Hock's death was politicised to the extreme by DAP, far beyond any objective facts.
Now that they are part of the Government , they will find that their original allegations are far beyond any verifiable facts.
DAP misled the Chinese community down a dishonest path. They will pay a heavy political price for now that they cannot deliver.
everyone or at least most neutral people believe TBH was murdered or killed through manslaughter (accidental killing). The DAP was then not wrong in pushing for justice but today with a taste of "city hall's" power it is suddenly reluctant to stick to idealism and principles and possibly lose the power it now enjoys
Deleteso dap is either a liar in the past, or a liar now?
Deletenot a liar - in the past it fought correctly, in the here and now, it acts 'dunno' for fear f losing what it now enjoys - DAP is not a liar but a eff-ing hypocrite
DeleteWhy so impulsively jump into conclusion?
Deletehttps://m.malaysiakini.com/news/481566
Guan Eng to seek clarification on reclassification of Beng Hock's case
Afraid that a chance to black-goating yr pet hatred would slip away, thus just blindly grabbing the headline & fabricate the contents!
Tsk… tsk… paid wordsmiths out to earn for their keep le.
only after my post - maybe my post did something
DeleteWa-lau eh!
DeleteWho r u but a jibby asslicker!
Lge most probably DONT even know yr existence than reading yr post!
Memang egoistic.
Why does LKS have to say anything? Ramkarpal is already leading the charge for Justice.....
ReplyDeleteBelow emphasizes my earlier point. Starting police investigations using a lower classification of criminal code is normal, deliberate and effective. Who decided on the classification, AGC or police, does not matter, what matters is the initial classification allows swift action.
Trust Tommy Thomas. Trust our IGP. Trust Latheefa.
There will be justice for TBH, as best as possible, but I fear the amount of time passed will make this job really difficult, as long as nobody present that tragic night at the MACC office is willing to talk and no irrefutable forensic evidence is available.
QUOTE
Leave classification of cases to cops
Published on 27 Jun 2019
THE process to classify criminal cases begins when police reports are lodged. A criminal probe officially commences when an investigation paper is opened.
Police actions are recorded during initial enquiries to justify the decision, and the discretion in classifying cases is a mainstay of the spirit of separation of power within the criminal justice system.
Despite there being elements of foul play at the scene of the crime, Teoh Beng Hock’s case was “under-classified” at the outset of investigations as a sudden death report (SDR). This affected the outcome of the probe.
Even if it was classified as wrongful confinement at the material time, it would have been better than an SDR. Being a seizable offence, it would have given police the power to arrest suspects immediately.
All the suspects from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission could have been arrested, remanded and interrogated, and their offices searched.
There would have been a higher probability of solving the case. Precious time was lost at this stage, and it will be difficult for police to reinvestigate now.
It must also be emphasised that over- or under-classifying cases has been part of the police craft in pursuit of collecting admissible evidence.
The problem is not in the classification of the case, but the delay in the collection of the relevant admissible evidence.
The attorney-general, although wielding the power to direct police investigations, normally does not encroach on the investigative procedures of classification.
It was never the intention of the law to fuse these roles in the criminal justice system. This allows police a free hand, based on suspicion, to use all the tools of investigation empowered to them, to collect admissible evidence without interference.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has always acted as the counterbalance to any possibility of abuse of police powers, including the over- or under-classifying of criminal cases.
The checks and balances of case classification lie in police procedures, of which the daily crime summary is scrutinised at the state and federal levels. These are the set channels in place, and only need to be tweaked in their overall reform.
* G. Selva reads The Malaysian Insight.
UNQUOTE
Another example is the Seafield temple fireman's case. Initially it was classified as a lesser charge but later revised to murder when he died in hospital.
Similarly the TBH case can be started as a wrongful detention case and as investigations proceed and evidence is gathered, if there is evidence of torture then more serious charges can be brought forward and if the evidence shows that the torture led to his suicide or murder then the charges can be revised again. If we jump straight to a murder investigation (just because the Appeals Court OPINES that evidence exists to suggest murder) then we are denying DUE PROCESS and merely taking a short-cut to a death penalty.
Don't be armchair policemen or lawyers.
Follow the Process. No shortcuts like appointing Latheefa without PSC approval.
bec lks talked the most in the passed? so what change?
DeleteIn the past Kit was opposition leader, big boss, so he took the lead in voicing out wrongdoing, sekarang hanya government back-bencher, MP sahaja, ada ramai lagi teman MP dan menteri yang lebih berkuasa, lagipun Kit nak bersara, nak relak sikit.
Deletewhat justice hv to do with opposition leader, boss, mp, backbencher, bersara? dap punya logic kah?
DeleteUnder the original TBH investigation ten years ago the investigation was initially classified as "sudden death" which is quite low in degree of seriousness. Sudden death does not point the finger at anyone.
ReplyDelete"Wrongful confinement" is actually quite a serious criminal offence, almost as serious as kidnapping. It points the finger to the party that is confining TBH, ie MACC.
This is only the first step. Although not as serious as manslaughter or murder but the level of evidence today is not at that level.
Take it step by step, prove wrongful detention first, which is easy, then find out if excessive methods of interrogation or torture was employed and if so then take the next step, whether this caused TBH's suicide or death.
Follow the Process. The end does not justify the means. If we take short cut and go straight to murder, just because the Court of Appeal OPINES that there is evidence to suggest murder then Suhakam may complain about no Human Rights for MACC officers ha ha ha...
Then after we convict and sentence them to death penalty everyone will be happy....except those who are against the death penalty, they say:
"We demand Justice for TBH, but don't hang the murderers, send them to jail, 20 years free food and lodging at taxpayers expense, as long as I don't pay Malaysian tax, because we should never kill to teach people that killing is wrong, even if the person killed is TBH"......
Would any Malaysian family member/relatives/public irrespective of political affiliation not want to know the truth and feel that Justice is obtained when any member of their family who is in their 20s, not a criminal or known to have previous criminal offences, under the custody of a Govt. enforcement agency, getting married and also become a father is found dead after falling down from a 14 storey Govt. building?
ReplyDeleteIs it really self suicide due to reasons still unknown and the circumstances leading towards it or whether it is cold blooded murder is the main issue most would like to know.
The possibility of enforcement personnel who breaks the law when suspects are in custody leading to suspects committing suicide or cold blooded murder leading to being killed is chilling enough to create fear and public mistrust of the enforcement agencies and the justice system meant to protect them.
Let's not deviate from this main issue, for anyone or their relatives or friends might also end up like TBH one day if the circumstances and reason TBH is found dead is not known and made transparent.
And when Deep State players join in to deny transparency and see justice is served or protect their political interest or players involved, it gets even murkier and maybe the collapse of trust and credibility of Govt. law enforcement agencies and the justice system.