By Joseph Sipalan
June 14, 2011
MalaysiaKini

The Dewan Rakyat has thrown out an emergency motion to debate the death of Customs senior assistant director Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee agreed that the motion is specific and of public interest, but decided that it is not an urgent issue.

“As the date for the inquest has been set (from July 4-15), there is no need to expedite a debate (on Ahmad Sarbani’s death). So the House rejects this motion,” he said after Question Time.

Any emergency motion must satisfy all three criteria before it can be debated.

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), who filed the motion on June 10, had argued that it is vital for the issue to be debated as, until now, the MACC and the police have not been able to furnish proof to support suspicions that he was on the take.

He listed Ahmad Sarbani’s assets, which include a semi-detached house worth about RM250,000 and two other properties worth about RM60,000 and RM80,000 respectively, aside from a Honda CRV, a Proton Persona and a Perodua car and a motorcycle.

“Would a so-called corrupt civil servant live such an average life, or is the MACC purposely trying to tarnish his name? The police should make the outcome of their investigation public,” he said.

He also said the police and MACC should not be allowed to drag their feet as they did over the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock, the first incident of a person dying while in the commission’s custody.

Lim, who is also DAP advisor, stressed that Ahmad Sarbani’s case should not end up like the Teoh inquest, which failed to satisfy many burning questions after the coroner returned an open verdict.

Ahmad Sarbani was found dead after falling from the third floor of the MACC’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters on April 6.

His death sparked public outrage, with Lim demanding that the authorities immediately set up a royal commission of inquiry to probe the MACC over the incident.