by Teoh El Sen
Free Malaysia Today
April 7, 2012

Former KL CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim claims the A-G is looking after his own interest in deciding not to charge anyone over Teoh Beng Hock’s death.

PETALING JAYA: With the amount of skeletons in his closet, Attorney-General Abdul Ghani Patail would be “digging his own grave” if he prosecutes anyone over the Teoh Beng Hock’s death, said a retired senior policeman today.

Ex- Kuala Lumpur criminal investigation department(CID) chief Mat Zain Ibrahim said this was the reason why Ghani was being cowardly and ‘afraid’ to institute criminal proceedings against any persons recommended by the royal commission of inquiries (RCIs).

“It’s for his own survival. Ghani will not institute any criminal proceeding against any person or persons that are being recommended by any RCIs.

“It is not about lack of evidence or that the case needs further investigation from the appropriate Department or anything to that effect. The RCIs recommendations are valid and proper.

“I state without any hesitation, that Ghani is himself very afraid to take any actions.

“To institute any criminal proceeding against those persons would be like digging his own grave.

“It is like putting himself in the same boat with those people he is suppose to charge and prosecute.

The only difference would be those people may have only one charge hanging over their heads,while Gani Patail has several times more,” said Mat Zain in an e-mail to FMT today.

He said an RCI in 1999 to investigate the ‘black eye’ incident had found that Ghani had committed “various criminal offences” .

“He can be charged for at least six(6) cases of fabrication of evidence, each carrying a sentence of up to seven(7) years imprisonment upon conviction.

“As far as the documentary evidences against him are concerned, they are all there in the RCI report,consented by The Agong for all to see,” said Mat Zain.

‘Blatant’ snub

Mat Zain was the lead investigator in Anwar Ibrahim’s 1998 “black eye” case and has repeatedly accused that Ghani and the former Inspector General of Police fabricated evidence for the past three years.

Mat Zain said this was the reason Ghani is so “daring” and “blatant” to snub a group of Commissioners appointed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

He said that the commissioners appointed are normally not just anybody from the streets, but were people of unquestionable integrity and of certain standing in society.

“Unfortunately after these Commissioners have completed their tasks, they are being reduced to being mere lackeys and useless persons by none other than the A-G himself.”

He again called for the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to set up a tribunal to investigate Gani.

He said a tribunal can be formed by the Agong on Najib’s advise.

“All the PM needs to do is to set up a Tribunal and it will be over within a couple of days. There’s no need to engage foreign expert or foreign retired investigators like they did in the RCI to investigate into TBH’s death and waste tax payers funds…which are depleting by the
day,” said Mat Zain.

Mat Zain had noted that this was the second time Ghani has failed to act on recommendations by a commission of inquiry, the first being the failure to act on a previous RCI in 2007 probing allegations that appointments of judges were fixed.

Case closed

On Thursday, it was revealed in parliament that the A-G’s Chambers has closed its case on Teoh’s death and had cleared the three MACC officers named in the RCI report– which had found that Teoh was driven to suicide after aggressive interrogation– of all offences.

Teoh, 30, was the political aide of Selangor executive council member Ean Yong Hian Wah. He was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth-floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after he was questioned overnight by the MACC officers on the 14th floor.

An inquest was held but could only reach an “open verdict”. An RCI was subsequently held and the five-man RCI panel, headed by then federal court judge James Foong, had singled out the three officers who were involved in Teoh’s interrogations.

They were Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and his subordinates Mohd Anuar Ismail and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus.

The Bar Council, which played an active role in the RCI into Teoh’s death, had urged the A-G to clarify and explain his decision.

Contrary to the RCI report which named the three men, the Bar Council had recommended that five MACC officers be investigated for culpable homicide.

The five officers include Hishamuddin, Mohd Anuar and Mohd Ashraf as well as Selangor MACC investigations chief, Hairul Ilham Hamzah, and Klang MACC assistant enforcement officer Zulkefly Aziz.

The Bar had recommended that the five be investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing the death of Teoh via negligence.