Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Ahmad Said Hamdan has come under fire over his comments pertaining to the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang urged the 42 MACC panel members to meet in an emergency session to determine if Ahmad Said is fit and competent to lead the commission.

Alternatively, he said they should call for his dismissal.

ahmad said hamdan aca bpr boss"Ahmad Said (right) has shown himself to be completely callous and heartless over the mysterious death of Teoh who went to the 14th floor MACC (Selangor) headquarters on July 16 to cooperate with its investigations but ended up as a corpse on the fifth floor," he added in a statement.

Lim saw red over the MACC chief commissioner's comments which appeared in Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily.

Ahmad Said told Sin Chew that he was informed that there had been 10 cases of people investigated by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) who threw themselves off from high-rise buildings since the establishment of ICAC.

He added that there was nothing he could do if people investigated cannot withstand the pressure.

'Implication is crystal clear'

"The implication of Ahmad Said's statement is crystal clear," Lim said. "He is blaming Teoh's death on suicide for being unable to withstand the pressure of investigation by the MACC."

The opposition leader added that Ahmad Said should confirm whether there had been 10 suicide cases of persons investigated by ICAC in Hong Kong, giving the circumstances surrounding each such suicide.

anwar ibrahim sodomy allegation saiful bukhari azlan first day in court 070808 lim kit siang 01"It will be the height of irresponsibility on Ahmad Said's part if he is unable to back up his claim," Lim said, asking, "Out of these 10 suicide cases in Hong Kong, how many were suspects and how many witnesses?"

(Teoh was a witness in MACC's investigations concerning several Pakatan Rakyat leaders in Selangor).

Meanwhile, Lim said if Ahmad Said cannot substantiate his claim, he should apologise for making an irresponsible statement.

"In trying to absolve MACC's responsibility for Teoh's death, Ahmad Said is showing utter contempt for widespread public concerns about MACC’s Gestapo operations and interrogation techniques, as well as showing no sense of remorse or compassion whatsoever for Teoh's death and the bereavement of Teoh's family.

"Ahmad Said should explain why MACC is so irresponsible as to put out two theories of Teoh's death – that he committed suicide or he was murdered by people other than MACC," he added.

As for the 42 MACC panel members, Lim said they cannot continue to be indifferent to the 'betrayal' of the MACC statutory objectives to declare an all-out war against corruption as intended by Parliament.

"At present, MACC has embarked instead on an all-out war against Pakatan as cats paw of Umno/Barisan Nasional in the grand conspiracy to topple the Selangor state government," he added.