PKR wants answers over Sarbani's death

PKR has sent a memorandum to the inspector-general of police, demanding answers over the death of Customs officer Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed.

Party vice-president N Surendran (centre in picture), who handed over the memorandum to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman this morning, asked why there have been no arrests so far.

“There has not been any action by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police that can inspire public confidence, or anything that will close the case,” he said.

Fellow veep Nurul Izzah Anwar also pressed for urgent action against those involved, as well as immediate answers from the MACC as to why the case is still unsolved.

“They owe that not just to us, but also to Ahmad Sarbani’s widow,” she said.

Sarbani, 56, was found dead on the first floor of the MACC Kuala Lumpur headquarters on April 6, after having voluntarily gone to speak to an officer about a matter over which he was being investigated.

An assistant director of the Customs Department in Selangor, he was among 62 people detained on April 1 in a nationwide anti-graft operation involving the department.

His widow Masiah @ Maziah Manap lodged a police report on May 2, claiming that a MACC officer had inadvertently implied to her that it was a staff-member who had killed Sarbani.

To that, Surendran said that the allegation is very serious, “and yet there seem to be no answers from the MACC”.

‘Double standards by the police’

The memorandum was accepted by police public relations officer Rajvinder Kaur, who told the group that she could not promise any date for a response.

“All we want is at least a (timeframe) for (the police) response ... but it looks like they are not taking the same approach as with the sex video investigation,” said PKR vice-president and Batu MP Tian Chua, who was also there.

He was referring to the sex video implicating party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim that has been circulated on the Internet after being exclusively shown to the media in March.

“The IGP comes up with statements all the time about the status of the investigations, about the (Omega) watch, or the foreign experts they are roping in (over the sex video)," he noted.

“(Sarbani's case) obviously warrants more serious attention and I don’t know why the police do not seem to be taking it seriously.”

Surendran also questioned the innocence of the graft-busting body.

“Initially when the news of (Sarbani’s death) broke out, we had suspected foul play. But after reading the widow’s police report, we have more certainty,” he said.

Sarbani was the second person found dead at a MACC office, following DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock in 2009.