By Syed Mu’az Syed Putra
June 15, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — The family of Selangor Customs assistant director Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed has rejected Putrajaya’s decision to hold an inquest into his death and are insisting instead on a royal commission of inquiry (RCI).

The inquest, to be presided over by Coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani, was set for July 4 to 15 at the magistrate’s court here.

Sarbaini’s son, Shahril Ahmad, told The Malaysian Insider that his family preferred the RCI as it would be harder to determine the cause of his father’s death through an inquest and that this would delay the pursuance of justice.

“That is really the purpose of holding the inquest… we want an answer on the incident and we feel an RCI would be more accurate.

“If you hold an inquest, it looks like it will just be a waste of time… and it may just become like Teoh Beng Hock’s case — after the inquest, an RCI is called… so it is better to just hold an RCI straightaway,” he said.

In the inquest of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, who also died while under the supervision of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the coroner ruled out both suicide and homicide, and returned an open verdict.

Sarbaini, 56, was found dead on the badminton court of the MACC building at Jalan Cochrane around 10.20am on April 6, barely two hours after walking in.

His death occurred when Teoh’s RCI was still ongoing and delivered a huge blow to the anti-graft body’s already-battered credibility.

“An RCI is our best option. Who suggested holding the inquest? It was so sudden and the family did not even know about it. An RCI can bring those responsible to face justice… those who will sit on the panel will be credible individuals,” said Shahril.

Prior to this, Sarbaini’s family had also called on the police to explore the latest allegations made by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin before calling for an inquest.

Raja Petra, in a post on his Malaysia Today website on Monday, claimed the police had conducted a thorough check on Sarbaini’s assets and found no unusual or extraordinary wealth.

Raja Petra also accused MACC of trying to tarnish Sarbaini’s name following his death.

When asked about Raja Petra’s claims, Shahril said it was likely true as his father had never possessed such “extraordinary wealth” as accused.

“He lived like everyone else,” he said.

In Parliament yesterday, a motion by the opposition calling for Sarbaini’s death to be debated in the House was rejected by Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, who ruled that the matter was not “urgent”.