TBH RCI: Disclosure of findings is at Ruler’s discretion

It is up to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to make public the report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, said commission secretary Datuk Saripuddin Kasim.

“The written submissions will not be released until after the commission has submitted its report to the King.

“It is His Majesty's discretion whether to make the report public,” said Saripuddin during a press conference.

He added that it was a unanimous decision following a meeting between the commissioners and lead counsel from the Bar Council, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and conducting officers yesterday morning.

Saripuddin said the commissioners had about 30,000 pages of documents to go through in preparing their report, including verbatim transcription of the inquiry proceedings, and the submissions from the three parties.

Also present at the conference were Bar Council lawyer Christopher Leong, MACC counsel Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and conducting officer Amarjeet Singh. None of the commissioners were present.

When asked why the submissions could not be released to the media now, Muhammad Shafee said it was to avoid a trial by the media.

“We want to avoid the media picking perhaps juicy parts and not getting the gist of it,” he said.

On whether the commission's report would be given to the media after submitting it to the King, Saripuddin said it was also the prerogative of the King.

Leong, however, said the Bar Council would apply, at a later date, for the report and submissions to be made public.

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TBH RCI: MACC Submits Written Submission

The MACC on Friday May 27 handed over a 344-page written submission to the RCI investigating the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

Lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is representing the MACC, handed over the document to the RCI secretariat at the Jalan Duta court complex here.

On Wednesday, conducting officers, Amerjeet Singh, Kwan Li Sa and Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, as well as the Bar Council had handed over their respective written submissions to the secretariat.

On May 10, RCI chairman, Federal Court judge Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen had asked all parties to send in their submissions after the 70 witnesses called had testified during the hearing which began on Feb 14.

Now all we can do is wait...

TBH RCI: All parties except MACC have handed in written submissions on time

All parties in the the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, except for the MACC, have handed in their written submissions to the commission.

According to the commission secretariat secretary Muhamad Bukhari Ab Hamid, the commission's conducting officers had submitted their written submissions through a representative at 3.12pm Wednesday.

He said Bar Council handed in its written submissions at 4.45pm via its counsel Christopher Leong.

Muhamad Bukhari said that MACC, however, had submitted a letter via its counsel Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at 3.40pm to the secretariat, seeking for an extension until Friday for them to hand in their written submissions.

Speaking to reporters at the court complex here, Leong told reporters that he was unhappy that MACC had not honoured the deadline given by the commission.

Throughout the 60-day commission proceedings that began on Feb 14, 70 witnesses were called, including Teoh's employer, Ean Yong, and several MACC officials, who were not called during the earlier inquest.

Commission chairman Federal Court judge Tan Sri James Foong had fixed May 25 for the Bar Council and the MACC to submit their written submissions.

Findings of the commission would be submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on June 24.

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TBH RCI: Shafee: Focus on Teoh death, not MACC clangers

MACC lawyer Datuk Seri Shafee Abdullah today urged the public to focus on Teoh Beng Hock’s death and not the blunders by the anti-graft body in its investigations into Selangor DAP.

Shafee said that despite these errors, justice must still be served and the question of whether the DAP aide committed suicide be answered.

“Ask yourself honestly, whatever monkey things the MACC officers may have been blundering, wrong in certain procedures, a little harsh in questioning, the hallmark question is whether this is suicide or not,” he told reporters outside the RCI courtroom today.

During the RCI, it was revealed that MACC officers had watched pornography in their office. Commissioner Datuk T. Selventhiranathan also said that there were 59 police reports against the MACC nationwide, of which 21 were against the Selangor branch.

When asked about public perception of the MACC, Shafee said that “we can’t help it if the public insists on being ignorant. They have to open up their eyes and minds and cut across race and religion to look at the matter in perspective.”

The police investigating officer in the case, ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal, had also taken two months after Teoh’s death to find a mystery note among his belongings. He then tendered it as evidence at a coroner’s inquest into Teoh’s death almost a year after the incident.

Today, Shafee told the public to focus on the issue of how Teoh died rather than the conduct of officers involved.

“I agree with you, the IO was careless. He should have taken every note and sent it for interpretation straightaway.

“But we always have carelessness in any investigation. In any country. In the United States, the killing by OJ Simpson, all kinds of blunders were made but it doesn’t mean that justice cannot be done,” he said.

TBH RCI: RCI to uncover scratched-out words in mystery note

The royal inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s death has granted the MACC’s application to determine what words were scratched out of the mystery note he allegedly wrote.

The controversial note, which was only produced as evidence nearly a year after Teoh’s death, has a portion which was crossed out with a pen.

MACC lawyer Datuk Seri Shafee Abdullah told the RCI that this was important in establishing the writer’s state of mind.

“If it is indeed Teoh Beng Hock, then it will show what he was thinking minutes before his death,” he said.

The “mystery note” was found by investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal two months after Teoh’s death.

He had tendered it as evidence at a coroner’s inquest into the death almost a year after Teoh was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, the previous site of MACC’s Selangor office.

Shafee told the commission that the cancelled-out words had been translated by one interpreter during the coroner’s inquest as “Saya telah menyusahkan kamu (I have caused you trouble).”

However, that translation was not produced at the RCI. Shafee said he wanted the translation verified as it would allow him to infer that the same person had changed the sentence to “Akibatnya, telah menyusahkan kamu (As a result, it has troubled you).”

He later told reporters that it would also show that the writer was in a clear state of mind as he was able to think about what he was writing.

“He was thinking critically. He didn’t want people to think that it was his fault. He was trying to say, I tried my best,” he said.

Shafee said that, to him, it was clearly a suicide note by Teoh and the fact that he was able to think about what he was writing would debunk the claim by the Bar Council that Teoh was tortured before he died.

The RCI’s deadline to submit its findings has been extended from April 25 to June 25. Both the Bar Council and MACC will file their submissions by May 25.