MACC Officers Not Ruled Out as Suspects in Teoh’s Case
(Malaysian Digest) – Police investigating officer, ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal who testified today, said he cannot rule out several officers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as suspects in the political aide Teoh Beng Hock’s case.
His reason for this is because there is an eyewitness who is also an MACC officer who had spotted them on the 14th floor where the deceased was interrogated on the same day he was found dead in the early morning of July 16 last year.
According to Ahmad Nazri, MACC officer Mohd Nazri Ibrahim was allowed to leave after recording Teoh’s statement at 3:45 am.
Ahmad Nazri also testified that CCTV footage showed the witness leaving the building at about 4am, but he was seen by another MACC officer, Raymond Nyion, passing the latter’s office at around 5am.
At the same time, Nyion also saw MACC investigating officer Mohd Anwar Ismail and department director Hishamuddin Hashim pass by.
Previously, Anwar had testified that he was asleep in the prayer room from 5 to 8:30am, while Hishamuddin said that he saw Teoh at the pantry at around 5.45am.
When asked by Teoh’s family lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, if he had questioned MACC officer Mohd Nazri on the discrepancy with Raymond’s statement, the police officer said that he did not.
“I did not do anything as Tan Boon Wah (a witness) told me that he saw the deceased at 6am unharmed and free to move about,” he testified.
Ahmad Nazri kept mum when it was suggested to him that there was interference in his investigation and refused to answer when Gobind suggested that his investigation was “insufficient”.
The police officer also refused to reply when asked if he did not believe Raymond’s statement choosing to only nod to the suggestion that the three MACC officers cannot be ruled out, and refused to say ‘Yes’ for records, when requested.
When questioned by MACC lawyer Abdul Razak Musa, however, he said that no arrests were made, for the case which was investigated for suicide and murder among others, as there was not enough evidence to implicate any individual.
He also told the coroner’s court in Shah Alam that there were no traces of blood in all areas of the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam where Teoh’s body was found, including the toilet, nor was there evidence of dragging on the carpet.
Answering Selangor government counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, the police officer agreed that only the front area of the 15th floor MACC office were examined for traces of blood, as the rest of the area was considered “sensitive areas”.
Teoh, 30, was found dead on the fifth floor service walkway of Plaza Masalam on July 16, 2009, after interrogation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission at their office on the 14th floor of the same building the night before.
