DAP Penang

Karpal: It’s not us who’s prolonging the TBH ordeal

By admin on February 20th, 2011

DAP national chairperson and senior lawyer Karpal Singh today described Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as “mischievous” for imputing ulterior motives to the family of the late Teoh Beng Hock and its reservations against the Royal Commission of Inquiry into his death.

Rebutting Najib’s claims that the opposition was using the family to prolong the issue and exploit it in the upcoming general election, Karpal noted that the family had demanded the RCI long before its setup was announced following the conclusion of the 18-month inquest that ended on Jan 5 this year.

“It was the government that shot down that demand and instead directed an inquest,” said Karpal in a statement from his office in Bukit Gelugor, Penang.

Karpal said he was astounded, furthermore, that there was no decision in the first place to launch a police probe into Teoh’s death in mid-2009.

“To me, it was a clear case requiring a police investigation. An inquest was not the answer, and neither was a RCI,” said Karpal, who was one of the counsels for the Teoh family during the inquest.

Other than accusing the opposition of using the Teoh Beng Najib on Friday of exploiting the issue of his death, Najib had also said the postponement was to show that the government is not doing anything to help search for the truth.

He was referring to the decision by Teoh’s family on Wednesday to withdraw on from the ongoing RCI hearing that is seeking to establish the cause of the political aide’s death.

Teoh’s family walked out of the inquiry after the RCI ruled against their request to have the hearing postponed until the disposal of a judicial review filed by the attorney-general against the coroner’s ‘open verdict’ on Teoh’s death to get it changed into ‘suicide’.

The move, said Karpal, had stolen a march on the family as they were on the verge of applying for revision of the verdict to one of homicide.

Following this, the Selangor government, which was Teoh’s employer at the time of his death, also followed suit, based on the same reasons given by his family.

Saying it is obvious “even to a first-year law student” that concurrent proceedings cannot be held in respect of the same issue, Karpal said it was the attorney-general’s refusal to withdraw the appeal of the inquest verdict that forced the family to decline participating in the RCI.

The other valid ground for the family’s decision to withdraw was the presence of personnel from the Attorney-General’s Chambers as conducting officers for the RCI.
“It is mischievous, under the circumstances, for the prime minister to publicly declare that there was a political motive for Teoh Beng Hock’s family not to participate in the RCI hearing.

“Teoh Beng Hock’s family does not have any political motive. All it wants is a legitimate and effective inqujiry to determine the cause of Teoh Beng Hock’s death and that those responsible for it be charged for murder if there is sufficient evidence to nail those responsible for it,” said Karpal.

Citing the evidence of pre-fall injury on Teoh’s neck as revealed during the inquest, Karpal said it is not too late for the RCI and judicial review of the inquest verdict to be abandoned and a thorough police investigation to be launched with a view to charging those responsible for Teoh’s death if there were sufficient proof.

MalaysiaKini - Feb 19, 11
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/156467