KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya has assured that the anti-graft body will cooperate with those investigating the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
“Whether it is an internal investigation or an external investigation, I cannot comment. We are the party being investigated, we can only confirm and cooperate with the investigating (party),“ she told reporters after attending the Regional Workshop Promoting Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Southeast Asia here today.
Gerakan on Saturday has urged the MACC to conduct an internal investigation to determine that there were no elements that could have led to the death of Teoh.
Party secretary-general Mak Kah Keong said Gerakan would write a letter to commissioner Latheefa to call for the investigation.
He said an internal investigation would likely reveal the truth behind Teoh’s death a decade ago.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2011 concluded that Teoh was driven to suicide due to the MACC’s aggressive investigation methods, which Mah believes is stopping the police from investigating his death as murder.
Teoh was found dead in 2009 after being held overnight at the then-Selangor MACC office for interrogation.
In 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the coroner’s open verdict on his death, and ruled that MACC officers had committed wrongdoing. None of these officers have since been prosecuted.
Last year, the Pakatan Harapan government promised to reopen investigations, and police were looking into the unresolved case under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement.
Recently, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said fresh investigations into Teoh’s death have been classified under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement, as there was insufficient evidence to investigate Teoh’s death for culpable homicide under Section 304 or 304A.
However, he said the reclassification would not prevent investigators from looking into the case to find out the truth.
