A PRESSURE group demanding justice for political aide Teoh Beng Hock has announced a change in route for its “walk for justice” later this week. The walk will now end at parliament in Kuala Lumpur.
The original route for the three-day walk beginning on July 13 was from Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.
The chairman of Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement, Ng Yap Hwa, said the walk would stop at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters, Bukit Aman and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“Considering that parliament is in session and cabinet ministers and members of parliament will be gathering at the Dewan Rakyat, we have decided to change the route to go to parliament to submit a memorandum to the prime minister.
“We will also submit a letter to the Selangor menteri besar at 9.30am on July 13 at the Selangor secretariat building in Shah Alam, reminding the Selangor government that Teoh Beng Hock, the former employee of the Selangor government who saved the democracy in Selangor state, has yet to see justice done,” Ng said in a statement today.
The walk is organised over unresolved matters surrounding the political aide’s death and aims to demand justice from the unity government.
The group’s demands include amending Section 30 of the MACC Act to limit interrogation time as well as enacting an anti-torture law.
The group also demanded that authorities investigate and prosecute the case accordingly, as it was supposed to have been reopened in 2018.
In June 2018, the cabinet granted approval for investigations into Teoh’s death to be reopened. However, four months later, police said they had not received any instructions from the AGC to do so.
Apart from the “walk for justice”, the group is also holding a public memorial service for custodial death victims at the riverside of the Bar Council on July 16 at 6pm, which is also the 15th anniversary of Teoh’s death.
A memorial service for Teoh will be held on the same day at 8pm at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
On May 5, the group launched a campaign called the “Search for Missing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim” in Kuala Kubu Baharu following multiple failed attempts by the Teoh family to meet Anwar in the 17 months since he took office.
Last December, the association also submitted a protest letter to the Prime Minister’s Office expressing dissatisfaction that no one had been held responsible for Teoh’s death.
In 2009, Teoh, who was then an aide to then Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after he had arrived for questioning on the 14th floor of the Selangor MACC headquarters.
A coroner’s inquest in 2011 delivered an open verdict.
His family subsequently filed an appeal against the findings. Three years later, the Court of Appeal set aside the open verdict and ruled that Teoh’s death was caused by multiple injuries as a result of unlawful acts by unknown persons. – July 8, 2024.
