PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been urged to commit to a date to meet the late Teoh Beng Hock’s family.

Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement chairman Ng Yap Hwa said Anwar should address the demands in the group’s memorandum.

“He didn’t inform us of the date for the meeting. He just posted it on his social media,” Ng said. “We don’t want him to just come and meet. We don’t want the superficial PR stunt. We want him to acknowledge our demands and commit to carrying them out,” the human rights activist added.

On Monday, Anwar, who is the Pakatan Harapan chairman, said he would soon meet the family of the late political aide and review their memorandum asking for justice for Teoh. He also posted on social media that he was aware of an incident outside Parliament involving the family and Teoh’s support group.

Anwar said yesterday that he would meet the family next week.

On Monday, police stopped the group at the Parliament gates, preventing them from handing over a memorandum to the government. In the ensuing stand-off, several people, including Teoh’s sister, Lee Lan, were manhandled by the police. The group had planned to end their three-day walk at Parliament by submitting a memorandum to Anwar demanding justice for Teoh. who died in the Selangor MACC headquarters in Shah Alam 15 years ago.

Ng said the group has engaged with the government for the past 18 months but have seen no progress.

“It has been 18 months since this government assumed power. In 2022, we sent the letter to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Home Minister’s office. We also engaged with the members of Parliament of this government to reach out to the prime minister but received no response. Now, 18 months have passed. They have almost three and a half years left. The government must arrange the meeting as soon as possible and carry out our demands. If they do not carry out these demands immediately, then when do they intend to do it?” Ng said.

Appoint independent investigator

Ng also expressed a lack of confidence in the enforcement agencies’ ability to uncover the truth in Teoh’s case. He said that from the start, the police tried to portray the death as a suicide.

“It is very clear that the enforcement agencies are trying to protect each other. In Teoh’s case, we haven’t received justice for 15 years because the police conducted a very biased and unprofessional investigation. When Teoh died, police initially classified it as sudden death. Then the coroner’s court ruled that Teoh’s death was neither suicide nor homicide. After the verdict from the coroner’s court, we brought the case to the High Court. The attorney-general appealed to classify this case as suicide,” he said.

Ng called for the government to appoint an expert international independent criminal investigator to re-open the case.

“The past 15 years have shown the failure of the police to ensure justice in this case. So we want an international investigator who is free from any influence and transparent with their findings,” he said.

In 2009, Teoh, who was aide to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam. He had been questioned on the 14th floor of the Selangor MACC headquarters. A coroner’s inquest in 2011 delivered an open verdict. His family subsequently filed an appeal against the findings. Three years later, the Court of Appeal set aside the open verdict and ruled that Teoh’s death was caused by multiple injuries as a result of unlawful acts by unknown persons.

In June 2018, the cabinet approved the reopening of investigations into Teoh’s death. However, four months later, the police said they had not received any instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers to do so. The police then re-filed the case under the minor charge of “wrongful confinement” instead of homicide.

In August 2023, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said police had completed their investigation and submitted the report to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. – July 18, 2024.