Bar: Probe 5 MACC officers for culpable homicide

Bar: Probe 5 MACC officers for culpable homicide

Aug 5, 11 12:12pm

Unlike the royal commission of inquiry which found that political aide Teoh Beng Hock was driven to suicide, the Bar Council, which took an active role in the RCI, had recommended to the panel that five Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers be investigated for culpable homicide.

The five officers are former Selangor MACC deputy chief Hishamuddin Hashim, Selangor MACC investigations chief, Hairul Ilham Hamzah, investigating officer Mohd Anuar Ismail, interrogation officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus and Klang MACC assistant enforcement officer Zulkefly Aziz.

This is in contrast to the RCI finding which only implicates three officers namely Hishamuddin, Anuar and Ashraf. The Bar had recommended that the five be investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing the death of Teoh via negligence.

The Bar Council's recommendation is contained in the 337-page submission to the RCI panel which was finally released to the Malaysian Bar members today. This follows a meeting held last night to discuss the matter.

The submission added that Hairul and Anuar had admitted in hindsight, they would not have supervised the investigations in such a questionable manner as they had as the Selangor MACC investigations chief and the investigation officer in charge of the investigations, and that they were responsible for witness or suspects under their custody.

The Bar also want the authorities to investigate 10 MACC officers including the five mentioned for criminal conspiracy under section 120A of the Penal Code.

It also recommended that the 10 officers be investigated for abetment or attempting to abet in Teoh's death or a cover-up to the political aide's death.

Furthermore, they also proposed that the 10 officers be investigated for giving false evidence and fabricating evidence under section 191 and 192 of the Penal Code.

Teoh had died while being detained overnight at the Shah Alam MACC headquarters in Plaza Masalam on July 16, 2009.

The recommendations by the Bar for more MACC officers to be investigated is in contrast with what the RCI had recommended in its 124-page report.