GEORGE TOWN (July 23, 2009): DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng wants the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s methods of questioning to include circumstances leading to the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
Lim, who is Penang chief minister, said the RCI should also investigate weaknesses in the interrogation methods of the police and the MACC that allowed “deaths in custody”.
“There should also be corrective measures to prevent these type of incidents from happening again,” he said.
He said the federal government needed to assure the public that those taken into custody by the police or the MACC “are safe”.
Lim expressed fear that the RCI would only become a show as it would not address the core issues behind Teoh’s death.
“The federal government should not treat this as a public relations exercise but set up the RCI to find the culprits behind Teoh’s death and bring them to book,” he told reporters in his office today.
On the inquest into Teoh’s cause of death which will be headed by a magistrate as required by law, Lim said the public was not confident with this type of investigations and “that’s why there are calls for the setting up of the RCI, which is better than nothing”.
DAP Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong also called for the RCI to be given the broadest possible terms of reference in conducting the inquiry.
Other than investigating the causes of Teoh’s death and bringing to book the culprits, Liew said the RCI should recommend ways to ensure the independence of the MACC so that its operations “are not politically inspired”.
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