KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Fifteen years after the 2009 death of Teoh Beng Hock in Shah Alam, the government has agreed to reopen the investigation into his death, promising a transparent and impartial process free from interference.

Teoh, a former journalist turned aide to former Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, died after being held for questioning overnight at the then Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

He had been called to provide information as a witness and not a suspect into a suspected corruption case.

In July 2011, a Royal Commission of Inquiry concluded that his death was a suicide.

However, in September 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that Teoh’s death from a fall was caused by “an unlawful act or acts by unknown individuals.”

Teoh’s family had long sought justice for his death, which occurred outside the Selangor office of anti-corruption investigators in 2009.

So who was Teoh Beng Hock, and why is his case being reopened after 15 years?

UKM graduate and a former journalist

Teoh, born in 1979 in Melaka, graduated from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and began his career as a journalist at Sin Chew Daily.

Following the general election in 2008, Teoh transitioned to a political role where he served as a political aide to DAP’s Ean Yong Hian Wah, the then Seri Kembangan state assemblyman and a member of the Selangor State Executive Council.

Timeline of events

  • July 13, 2009: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probed seven Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state assemblymen in relation to the use of state funds in their respective constituencies.
  • July 15, 2009: Ean’s office was raided by Selangor MACC officers and Teoh was detained overnight for questioning as a witness at their headquarters on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.
  • July 16, 2009: Teoh was found dead on the fifth-floor landing of the Plaza Masalam building.
  • July 29, 2009: The inquest into the death of Teoh began before Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas.
  • January 5, 2011: The Shah Alam Coroner’s Court gave an open verdict for Teoh’s case and said it was not due to suicide or murder and no third party was involved in his death.
  • July 21, 2011: The Royal Commission of Inquiry said Teoh’s death was due to suicide.
  • December 5, 2011: The Shah Alam High Court rejected Teoh family’s application for judicial review, the judges maintained the inquest’s open verdict.
  • October 30, 2012: Four of Teoh’s family members filed a civil lawsuit claiming compensation over sadness, loss of dependency and negligence by MACC and 13 others over his death.
  • September 5, 2014: The Court of Appeal’s three-judge panel unanimously ruled that Teoh’s death “was caused by multiple injuries from a fall from the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam as a result of or which was accelerated by an unlawful act or acts of person or persons unknown, inclusive of MACC officers who were involved in the arrest and investigation of the deceased.”
  • May 12, 2015: The defendants — 10 MACC officers, the MACC and the Malaysian government — settled the civil lawsuit by agreeing to pay Teoh’s family RM600,000 in damages and RM60,000 in cost and admitted to negligence on their part resulting in Teoh’s death.
  • January 4, 2022: Teoh’s parents filed a lawsuit through a judicial review application, to ask the court to compel the police to complete investigations into his 2009 death.
  • June 6, 2022: The High Court granted leave for the lawsuit to be heard the next year.
  • July 15, 2024: Members of the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement arrived at Parliament following a three-day 96km walk for justice to hand over a memorandum with a list of their demands. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim agreed to meet Teoh’s family.
  • August 1, 2024: Teoh’s family members met Anwar in a closed-door meeting. Anwar announced the government agreed to reopen the investigation into Teoh’s death.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed October 29 to deliver a ruling on Teoh’s family’s application for a judicial review on his death.

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