Government firm on Sarbaini inquest
(The Malaysian Insider) – The government has insisted an inquest must be held for the late Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, despite growing clamour for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate his death.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk V.K Liew told Parliament that an inquiry was the first choice, and that there was a “procedure” which needed to be followed.
“As a procedure of law, an inquest needs to be done first, after that only an inquiry (RCI),” he said today.
In response, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang reiterated that the government should override the decision by the police and Attorney-General to hold an inquest for the late Customs officer.
“There have been precedents in the United Kingdom where an RCI can be held even though a decision has been made on an inquest,” the Ipoh Timur MP told reporters at a news conference.
The inquest, to be presided over by Coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani, was set for July 4 to 15 at the magistrate’s court.
Yesterday, Lim said that the Cabinet should heed the call made by the late Custom officer’s son, Shahril Ahmad, that the family preferred a royal commission of inquiry (RCI).
Shahril earlier said it would be harder to determine the cause of Sarbaini’s death through an inquest and that this would delay the pursuance of justice.
Sarbaini, 56, was found dead on the badminton court of the MACC building at Jalan Cochrane around 10.20am on April 6, barely two hours after walking in.
His death occurred when Teoh’s RCI was still ongoing and delivered a huge blow to the anti-graft body’s already-battered credibility.
Prior to this, Sarbaini’s family had also called on the police to explore the latest allegations made by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin before calling for an inquest.
Raja Petra, in a post on his Malaysia Today website on Monday, claimed the police had conducted a thorough check on Sarbaini’s assets and found no unusual or extraordinary wealth.
Raja Petra also accused MACC of trying to tarnish Sarbaini’s name following his death.
