GEORGE TOWN, July 27 — Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal criticised Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today for implying that Teoh Beng Hock’s family was demanding anything more than justice for his death.
He said Muhyiddin’s remarks portrayed Teoh’s family as seeking more than what they rightfully deserved.
“This cannot be further than the truth, the civil suit has nothing to do with the criminal investigations,” he said.
He told the home minister to refrain from making more remarks of this nature.
“They are not asking for favours, they are asking for justice, and it is for the state to provide justice,” he told a press conference today after attending an event at SK Sungai Gelugor here.
Muhyiddin previously said authorities have exhausted all legal processes to investigate the death of Teoh, including forming the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) and compensating the family in their civil suit.
Muhyiddin reportedly said Teoh’s death should no longer be an issue but that his family was not satisfied despite accepting the compensation.
He added that he would leave it to the attorney general to handle the matter.
Today, Ramkarpal said the compensation from the civil suit should not be linked to the criminal investigations of the case.
“The civil suit was settled without prejudice and what that means was that it is without prejudice to ongoing criminal investigations which is still being carried out,” he said.
He pointed out the Court of Appeal had in September 2014 ruled that there were elements of homicide in Teoh’s death.
The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) ordered a fresh investigation into the case but limited this to unlawful confinement; the family wants this to be a homicide investigation.
“The classification of the criminal investigation under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement was a far cry from findings made by the Court of Appeal,” he said.
He said the penalty for wrongful confinement was imprisonment for up to a year, or a fine of RM2,000, or both, which was far too light compared to the penalties under the various sections on homicide.
Teoh, who was a political aide to then-Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam in 2009 after he was interrogated for hours by the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the 14th floor of the building.
An RCI was held and it concluded that Teoh committed suicide due to the aggressive interrogation methods by the MACC officers.
This was then brought to the High Court before finally being presented in the Appellate Court that ruled that there were elements of homicide in his death.
It was reported last year that the police will conduct further investigations into Teoh’s death after being instructed to do so by the AGC.
