Supporters of the late political aide Teoh Beng Hock are calling on members of the public to send postcards to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to pressure the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

 

Chairperson of the organising committee Ng Seow Chen said that in conjunction with the sixth anniversary of Teoh’s deaths, members of the public can buy a set of 10 postcards for RM10 so that they and their friends can send it to the minister.

 

The postcards are to pressure the ministry and the police to complete a second investigation into Teoh’s death, which had started on September last year.

 

Ng said that although the Court of Appeal had ruled last year that one or more persons are responsible for Teoh’s death, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had admitted to negligence and agreed to pay compensation, the perpetrators of the death have yet to be brought to justice.

 

She told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today that neither the Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy nor Teoh’s family are satisfied with compensation alone.

 

“We reemphasise that the government ought to adopt the five important steps to ensure justice for a victim of political persecution, which are apology, truth, compensation, punishment, and policy reform.

 

“Lacking of any step will not lead to the completion of justice […] If the government is still in the state of denial and refuse to take action against the murderers, this will further anger the public,” she said.

 

The postcard campaign is one of several activities being organised by the Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy and co-organised by the Kinrara assemblyperson Ng Sze Han ( photo ) in memory of Teoh’s death.

 

The group will also be organising a screening of ‘Jatuh’ on the night of July 14, and a memorial on the night of July 25. 'Jatuh' is a documentary about Teoh’s death.

 

In addition, the group will be organising a youth camp targeting secondary students to teach them about climate change, garbage sorting, environmental policies, and the operation of government administrative departments, to inspire them to care for the earth.

 

These three community activities will be held in Puchong, and the group said it hoped to create awareness on democracy and empower citizens to take on the issues within their communities.

Those interested can contact Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy secretariat member Ng Yap Wah through phone number 012-265 8448 for the postcards.

 

Found dead

next day

Teoh - the political aide to Selangor exco member Ean Yong Hian Wah - was brought to the then Selangor MACC headquarters for interrogation on July 15, 2009, and was found dead the next day.

 

The then Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim, investigation officer Arman Alies and assistant investigation officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus had been implicated in a 2009 royal commission on inquiry in his death

 

However, the commission stopped short of calling it murder, and instead found that Teoh was driven to suicide by the trio’s aggressive interrogation.

 

The Court of Appeal subsequently and unanimously ruled out suicide and said, “The death of Teoh Beng Hock was caused by multiple injuries from a fall from the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam as a result of or which was accelerated by an unlawful act or acts of persons unknown, inclusive of the MACC officers who were involved in the arrest and investigations of the deceased,” and ordered the reopening of investigations .

In the meantime, Hishamuddin has since risen in rank to become the Sabah MACC director, while Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Razali Ibrahim cited legal precedents to defend the promotion, saying that withholding his promotion would have legal implications to the government.