Tarani Palani | June 16, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

The government maintains its stand that by law, an inquest needs to be established before a RCI. But Lim Kit Siang says the argument is flawed.

KUALA LUMPUR: The death of Selangor Customs Department assistant director Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed continues to haunt Parliament despite a motion to disclose the deceased’s assets being rejected earlier this week.

The government has insisted that a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) cannot be established to investigate the death because an inquest must be carried out first, according to the law.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong reiterated the government’s stand on this issue in Parliament today.

“Based on the Penal Code, an inquest needs to be established first before a RCI,” he said.

Liew was responding to Segambut MP (DAP) Lim Lip Eng’s question regarding the status of investigation into Sarbaini’s death.

The government announced earlier this month that an inquest would be conducted from July 4-15 to investigate the death.

Sarbaini was among those detained on April 1 by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) during a graft probe involving Customs officers who allegedly caused the government to lose RM2.2 billion in under-declared taxes.

He was found dead on the first floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6.

His death was the second that occurred under MACC’s watch. The first was Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to a Selangor state executive councillor from DAP whom MACC was investigating for alleged misappropriation of funds.

An inquest was established to investigate Teoh’s death. However, the coroner had given an open verdict – that Teoh neither committed suicide nor murdered.

Due to strong public outcry, the government was forced to established a RCI which had recently concluded and the panel was in the process of preparing its report.

Following Teoh’s case, many felt that an inquest would be futile, with even Sarbaini’s family calling for a RCI.

Speaking at a press conference later, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang said Liew’s response was unacceptable.

“There is nothing in the law that mentions that an inquest needs to be established first,” said the veteran politician.

He said that there were international precedents that the government could refer to where an inquest was by-passed and a RCI established immediately.

“This is the second death under MACC and it is important to instil public confidence in MACC,” he said.