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- Teoh’s family lawyer Gobind Singh Deo confirmed to reporters that today’s decision …
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 5 — The Court of Appeal today directed the police and the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) to re-investigate and prosecute the individuals responsible for the 2009 death of former DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
Justice Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer noted the appellate court’s unanimous ruling today that Teoh’s death was caused by “unlawful acts” by unknown persons including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who had questioned him overnight before his death.
“In consequence I will allow the appeal and direct the Inspector-General of Police and Attorney-General’s Chambers to do the needful to commence investigation under the CPC (Criminal Procedure Code) and prefer appropriate charges as they deem fit,” said Hamid Sultan, who was the second judge to read out his judgement.
The two others on the three-judge panel — Datuk Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof and Datuk Mah Weng Kwai — made a similar direction.
To avoid perceptions of a “cover-up”, Mah said every effort must be made to “track down” the alleged perpetrators behind Teoh’s death through a thorough police probe.
“No one should be spared in the investigations so that there will be no allegations of a cover up,” he said.
“And hopefully this will bring some closure for the family of Teoh Beng Hock,” he added.
The judges pointed out that an inquest was merely a fact-finding mission to determine a person’s cause of death and does not result in anyone being found guilty or liable.
Mohamad Ariff, who chaired the panel, said when explaining their decision: “No criminal or civil liability of any person is established.”
He said liability for the death will depend on “further investigation”, saying that a handwriting expert skilled in reading Mandarin characters should restudy Teoh’s alleged suicide note — which was controversially introduced during the inquest as evidence about a year after his death.
“Ultimately it will be for the public prosecutor to determine whether any person or persons should be charged,” he added.
But Hamid Sultan also said in his judgement that: “Under the Federal Constitution, the courts have no powers to compel the learned Attorney-General to institute proceeding against the culprits save to give ‘prerogative directions’, which is vested in the courts.”
He said the constitution only provides sanctions when orders or ‘prerogative directions’ are not obeyed.
The Court of Appeal was reviewing the decision by the Coroner’s Court in 2011, which had delivered an open verdict, ruling that Teoh’s death was not a homicide or a suicide.
The Teoh family’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo confirmed to reporters that today’s decision is final and cannot be appealed at the Federal Court as the inquest had originated at the Coroner’s Court and was presided over by a magistrate.
In setting aside the two earlier decisions of the Coroner’s Court and High Court, all three judges on the Court of Appeal panel substituted it with their verdict today, saying:
“The death of Teoh Beng Hock 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.”
Teoh’s family have been in and out of the courtrooms over the past five years, after the 30-year-old groom-to-be was found sprawled in a pool of his own blood on the fifth-floor landing of the Plaza Masalam building in Shah Alam on the morning of July 16, 2009, days before his wedding.
