The time has come for the MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and the four MCA Ministers to end being “dumb and deaf” and declare whether they agree with the Bar Council that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and MACC officers must be held responsible for Teoh Beng Hock’s (TBH) death at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

The Bar Council submission to the TBH Royal Commission of Inquiry made public yesterday had recommended that five MACC officers be investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of TBH, viz: former Selangor MACC deputy chief and “mastermind” of the massive and unlawful 33-men MACC operation which resulted in Beng Hock’s death, Hishamuddin Hashim; Selangor MACC investigations chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah; investigation officer Mohd Anuar Ismail, interrogation officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus and Klang MACC assistant enforcement officer Zulkerfly Aziz.

The five should also be investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing Teoh’s death by negligence.

The Bar also want the authorities to investigate 10 MACC officers for criminal conspiracy in the cover up of TBH’s death under Section 120A of the Penal Code, the five named and the other five being Bulkini Paharuddin, Effezul Azran Abdul Maulop, Arman Alies, Raymond Nion and Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim.

These ten should also be investigated for abetment or attempting to abet in Teoh’s death and its cover-up.

The 10 and other MACC officers should also be investigated for giving false evidence and fabricating evidence under Section 191 and 192 of the Penal Code as well as for destruction of, tampering with, causing the disappearance of evidence, and framing incorrect records or writing with intent to save a person from punishment with respect to the death of TBH, i.e. ss. 201 to 204, 218 and 464 of the Penal Code.

In its submission, the Bar Council had called on the Royal Commission of Inquiry to send a strong and clear message to all law enforcement agencies in Malaysia that:

• Abuse of power will not be tolerated.

• Human dignity of suspects/witnesses must be preserved and respected.

• Perjury and/or concealment of facts will be severely punished.

• Law enforcement agencies have a duty of care to persons in their custody.

• Law enforcement agencies bear the burden to explain death in custody or suspicious death of suspects/witnesses.

The James Foong RCI failed miserably in sending out these five messages.

What is the MCA President and the four MCA Ministers doing in Cabinet and the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to remedy the failings of the TBH RCI to ensure that Beng Hock did not die in vain?

The next question is what all the Cabinet Ministers, regardless of race, religion or political party, propose to do about the glaring failings of the TBH RCI Report if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan is really meaningful to Malaysians.