Technician: Dried blood on Teoh's body
The inquest into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock began this morning in Shah Alam, with 97 witnesses expected to be called.
The inquest into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock began this morning in Shah Alam, with 97 witnesses expected to be called.
Six witnesses are scheduled to be called today, including pathologists who will present their findings.
Teoh, 30, was found dead on July 16 outside Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, following interrogation for 10 hours by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which has its Selangor office on the 14th floor of the building.
The first witness, security guard Siti Zabedah Yayha (left), 41, testified that she saw Teoh's body from a 19th-storey store room at about 1.30pm. It was sprawled on the fifth floor balcony of the adjacent plaza building
She then informed technician Mohd Ridzuan Samsuri about this.
Mohd Ridzuan confirmed this to the court and that there was dried blood on Teoh’s body when he went to the scene about 2pm.
The court stood down for a 15-minute recess before proceedings continued with the third witness.
The proceedings had begun at 9.05am, after having been postponed on July 29 following a request from lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who is representing Teoh's family along with Sankara Nair.
Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar is representing the Selangor government, while Cheow Wee and Richard Wee are assigned to hold a watching brief for the Bar Council.
Security officer thought it was suicide
After a short break, the inquest heard the third witness, senior security officer Mohd Khairul Izwan M Nasir.
He explained that, about 1.53.pm on July 16, he had covered Teoh's body with a black plastic sheet and placed bricks on the corners.
Denying that he had touched the body, he said he had then called the police.
Mohd Khairul was followed by police corporal Abdul Karem Othman from the Shah Alam police district.
Upon receiving the telephone call from the security officer, he said he had proceeded to inform his superior and then lodged a police report at 3.13pm.
The corporal said that, in his report, he noted that Mohd Khairul had suspected the victim had committed suicide. Gobind then grilled him about this theory.
The proceedings were adjourned about 1.50pm, after two more witnesses were called.DNA samples provided
Earlier, Gobind said that Kajang councillor Tan Boon Wah and one Lee Wye Wing have provided their DNA sample to investigators, but that these did not match the DNA found on Teoh’s blazer and belt.
Hock Chuan had told the coroner today that 157 samples swabs have been taken from officers in Selangor MACC, police personnel, forensics personnel, cleaners, witnesses and two members of the public.
Teoh, who was political secretary to Selangor exco member Ean Yong Hian Wah, was a witness in the investigation into the alleged abuse of constituency development funds by several Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons. They include Ean Yong.
The government has also announced that a royal commission of inquiry will be set up to look into MACC’s interrogation procedures as well as the findings of the inquest.
Teoh's mother Teng Shuw Hor, 56, was also present at the inquest today, making an appearance at about 11.50am. She sat next to DAP leader Lim Kit Siang in the public gallery.
