Royal Commission to probe Teoh case:PM Najib

Published: Friday January 7, 2011 MYT 10:36:00 AM
Updated: Friday January 7, 2011 MYT 4:10:48 PM
Royal Commission to probe Teoh case: PM Najib (Updated)

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has announced that a Royal Commission of Inquiry will be set up to investigate the Teoh Beng Hock case.

He said the Government will continue with its decision, mentioned on July 17, 2009, to establish the commission to study the investigating procedures adopted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and to determine whether there was a violation of human rights in the investigation process involving Teoh.

The commission, whose chairman will be announced after the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, would be given three months from its formation by the King to investigate the case.

Najib denied that the commission was being set up due to public pressure, and hoped this would bring closure to the case.
Najib stressing a point at the press conference

"The Government wants to know the truth, too, We empathise and sympathise with the family," he told a press conference here Friday.

He added that the Attorney-General would file an application at the Shah Alam High Court for a revision of the decision of the Coroner's Court.

MCA president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek said the move showed that the government believed in being transparent and sensitive to the wish of the people.

“We hope that the announcement will deflect allegations from certain parties who claim that the government was trying to “protect” the officials involved in the case,” he said after conducting visits to three Chinese schools in Tenang, Labis yesterday.

Dr Chua also hoped that leaders of opposition parties would stop politicising the issue.

“Even in politics there are ethics and it is just not ethical to use the death of a person to gain political support,” he said.

On Wednesday, a Coroner's Court delivered an open verdict in Teoh's inquest.

Various organisations have sinced called for a Royal Commission to investigate the case.

Teoh, 30, a political aide, was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after being questioned by the Selangor MACC, which was located on the 14th floor of the building.

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