Teoh’s death, there’s room yet for cautious optimism
By Bob Teoh (Sin Chew Daily)
THE CABINET decided Wednesday afternoon to empanel a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the death in custody of Teoh Beng Hock. Instead of being greeted by a collective sigh of relief, it raises serious doubts over the extent of the intended probe.
Indeed DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang whose party had campaigned vigorously for it immediately dismissed the RCI as announced today as an outright as a political sleight of hand.
Although the terms of reference for the royal probe have yet to be announced, Lim has already concluded: “There will be no Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of Teoh’s death although an inquest would be held.”
The question is Lim jumping the gun? How did he come to this conclusion?
Prime Minister Najib Razak in announcing the Cabinet decision did give some inkling that the RCI may not be what the man in the street may have in mind – a full probe with no holds barred.
Bernama quoted him as saying a Royal Commission is to be set up to scrutinise the mode of questioning employed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to determine whether human rights have been violated during the questioning of the deceased. He was the political aide to a DAP Selangor state exco member, Ean Yong Hian Wah, and was called as a witness to an alleged misappropriation of a paltry sum of RM2,400 of constituency fund. He was subsequently found dead apparently having fallen to his death from the 14th floor of the building where the Selangor head office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is located in Shah Alam.
Najib then went on to add that the Cabinet, at its meeting today, also decided that an inquest be held next week to determine the cause of death of Teoh.
He also said that Home Ministry and the police had been instructed to complete investigations into the case as soon as possible, and that a report on the matter would be made public.
He promised the government, “…would do whatever was necessary to find out the truth and that he himself would convey the outcome of the investigation to Teoh's family “ and assured that “the process of investigation will be forthright and transparent."
Responding to reporters’ question, he said the police could wrap up the investigation “very soon.”
He also said it was up to the court to decide who should be the magistrate to conduct the inquest but he expected the inquest to start sometime next week.
Thus far, a few things are clear. Four investigations are to be pressed into service – by the Home Ministry, Police, Coronial court, and the Royal Commission. The first two are essentially internal probes but the Prime Minister has promised the findings will be made public. The other two are public and legal hearings.
What would be the sequence of holding all four investigations? Probably the ministry and Police probes will go first, followed by the coronial hearing and then the Royal Commission. But they may in some ways criss-cross one another only to complicate an already very complicated situation.
How far the RCI will go depends on its terms of reference . The findings of the three probes before it would also have a material bearing on the final outcome.
The two internal findings can be open to dispute up to the Royal Commission stage. But the coronial probe is a legal court finding which, although rare, can only be challenged through a judicial review. So will this hold up or constrict the Royal Commission? Maybe.
Is Lim Kit Siang right in dismissing the proposed Royal Commission? It depends. If the focus of the RCI is “to scrutinise the mode of questioning employed by the MACC to determine whether human rights have been violated during the questioning of the deceased,” then the outcome can be just that.
The Cabinet decision indicates that “the inquest into the death is left to the coronial court which is normally conducted by a magistrate into, among other things, unexplained deaths as Teoh’s case.
A coronial inquest can be by jury like in some Commonwealth countries but in Malaysia, there is not jury trial. Although the coroner’s finding is legal, it is not a trial, so the coroner cannot and must not blame anyone. So who will look for who to blame? We will get the answer in due course, no doubt.
What happens at the RCI stage? If they return a finding that MACC had indeed violated the investigation procedures or techniques, then it can either apportion blame and prescribed punishment or propose new preventive mechanisms or both. Will the commission apportion blame or guilt for Teoh’s death? That depends whether the scope of their terms of reference allow them to do so.
Will the public outrage over Teoh’s unexplained death be appeased by a no holds barred RCI? It all depends on the yet to be announced terms of reference.
Although this is MACC’s first death in custody, there have been 1,353 custodial deaths in the country thus far, according to social scientist Farish A. Noor. There have been nine Royal Commission of Inquiries, all of which have not been up to reasonable public expectations.
The RCI into Teoh’s unexplained death is the first litmus test and opportunity for 1Malaysia to put its best foot forward. Let’s wait and see and not jump into conclusion. There is yet room for cautious optimism.
