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Sunday, 22 November 2009
Illegal to quiz witnesses beyond office hours, KL court rules
A Malaysian court yesterday said it was illegal for the anti-corruption agency to question witnesses beyond office hours, dealing a blow to the authorities’ insistence that this was within its right.
Illegal to quiz witnesses beyond office hours, KL court rules
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief 20 November 2009
The controversy over long interrogations erupted after Mr. Teoh Beng Hock died in a fall from the 14th floor of the MACC building in July.
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court yesterday said it was illegal for the anti-corruption agency to question witnesses beyond office hours, dealing a blow to the authorities’ insistence that this was within its right.
The controversy over long interrogations erupted after opposition aide Teoh Beng Hock died in a fall from the 14th floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building in July.
His death sparked an outcry, especially after it was found that he had been questioned into the early hours. He was a witness, and not a suspect.
Yesterday’s court judgment did not relate directly to Mr. Teoh, 30, but involved another witness, Kajang councillor Tan Boon Hwa, in the same investigation.
Mr. Tan, who said he was the last person to see Mr. Teoh alive, was taken for questioning by the MACC at about 9pm on July 15, and questioned until about 2am. He went home at about lunch time the next day.
He later sued the MACC.
High Court judge Mohd Ariff Md Yusof ruled that the law only allowed the MACC to question witnesses during normal office hours from 8.30am to 5.30pm.
‘The term ‘day to day’ as stipulated in the MACC Act cannot mean round the clock,’ he was quoted as saying by The Star.
The MACC is entitled to appeal.
It is a blow to the authorities, who are fighting a perception of overzealousness in investigations into alleged wrongdoings by Pakatan Rakyat politicians.
The cause of Mr. Teoh’s death is currently under investigation by a coroner’s court. According to MACC testimony at the inquest, he was called in at about 6pm on July 15. Questioning was said to have begun at 10pm, and the recording of statement ran from 1am to 3.30am.
His death stirred up even more controversy after a Thai pathologist engaged by the Selangor government told the inquest last month that there was an 80 per cent chance that Mr. Teoh’s death was a homicide, and only a 20 per cent chance that it was suicide.
Following the uproar, Mr. Teoh’s body will be exhumed and a second autopsy carried out this weekend.
The lawyer for Mr. Teoh’s family, Mr. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, said yesterday’s court decision and the testimony at the inquest had begun to paint a picture of a commission without seeming limitations to its power.
‘This must be addressed by the government. It’s imperative that the government look into the deficiencies as to how the MACC conducts itself, and sets guidelines on the questioning of witnesses and so on,’ he told The Straits Times.
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Illegal to quiz witnesses beyond office hours, KL court rules
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
20 November 2009
The controversy over long interrogations erupted after Mr. Teoh Beng Hock died in a fall from the 14th floor of the MACC building in July.
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court yesterday said it was illegal for the anti-corruption agency to question witnesses beyond office hours, dealing a blow to the authorities’ insistence that this was within its right.
The controversy over long interrogations erupted after opposition aide Teoh Beng Hock died in a fall from the 14th floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building in July.
His death sparked an outcry, especially after it was found that he had been questioned into the early hours. He was a witness, and not a suspect.
Yesterday’s court judgment did not relate directly to Mr. Teoh, 30, but involved another witness, Kajang councillor Tan Boon Hwa, in the same investigation.
Mr. Tan, who said he was the last person to see Mr. Teoh alive, was taken for questioning by the MACC at about 9pm on July 15, and questioned until about 2am. He went home at about lunch time the next day.
He later sued the MACC.
High Court judge Mohd Ariff Md Yusof ruled that the law only allowed the MACC to question witnesses during normal office hours from 8.30am to 5.30pm.
‘The term ‘day to day’ as stipulated in the MACC Act cannot mean round the clock,’ he was quoted as saying by The Star.
The MACC is entitled to appeal.
It is a blow to the authorities, who are fighting a perception of overzealousness in investigations into alleged wrongdoings by Pakatan Rakyat politicians.
The cause of Mr. Teoh’s death is currently under investigation by a coroner’s court. According to MACC testimony at the inquest, he was called in at about 6pm on July 15. Questioning was said to have begun at 10pm, and the recording of statement ran from 1am to 3.30am.
His death stirred up even more controversy after a Thai pathologist engaged by the Selangor government told the inquest last month that there was an 80 per cent chance that Mr. Teoh’s death was a homicide, and only a 20 per cent chance that it was suicide.
Following the uproar, Mr. Teoh’s body will be exhumed and a second autopsy carried out this weekend.
The lawyer for Mr. Teoh’s family, Mr. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, said yesterday’s court decision and the testimony at the inquest had begun to paint a picture of a commission without seeming limitations to its power.
‘This must be addressed by the government. It’s imperative that the government look into the deficiencies as to how the MACC conducts itself, and sets guidelines on the questioning of witnesses and so on,’ he told The Straits Times.
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