The inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which begins tomorrow should be suspended until the Cabinet has taken full account of the overwhelming demands coming not only from the family but the Malaysian population regardless of race for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe into the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s death.
The Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s attempt to defend and justify the Cabinet decision last Wednesday to break the inquiry into Teoh’s death into two part, one an inquest into the causes of death and another, a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the MACC’s interrogation techniques had been a flop, convincing no reasonable Malaysian.
Gani said that there cannot be a RCI into Teoh’s death and that the right and proper thing to do is to establish an inquest as the Cabinet has done.
Has Gani never heard of the Hutton Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of David Kelly’s death in the United Kingdom in 2003?
David Kelly, a Ministry of Defence scientist, was found dead after appearing before a parliamentary committee investigating the political scandal of British’s war against Iraq as he was accused of leaking sensitive information to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
A judicial inquiry headed by a judge, Justice Hutton was established to inquire into the causes and circumstances of Kelly’s death.
The inquest into Kelly’s death by the Oxfordshire Coroner had been adjourned while the inquiry proceeded. The inquiry reported on 28th January 2004 and the Oxfordshire Coroner announced in March 2004 that the inquest would not be reconvened.
Gani cannot be unaware of the David Kelly case, which is not the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth countries.
The question is why the Cabinet and the Attorney-General are not prepared to adopt these best international practices when public confidence in a comprehensive and untrammelled investigation into the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s death is at stake?
(Media Conference Statement after the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting in Parliament on Tuesday, 28th July 2009 at 4.30 pm)