Thursday 16 July 2009

Repercussions?

It so happened that I was logging into my Twitter account this evening to see the latest tweets regarding the Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial. But I never expected to see so many tweet posts from Lim Kit Siang to report the sudden death of this young man who was being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over some complaints about the failure of state allocations reaching the people in Selangor.

Teoh Beng Hock, 30, was the political aide to a Selangor state assemblyman and he had been subjected to questioning throughout the night as part of the MACC's investigations. According to the Malaysian Insider:

"At a press conference, the MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul said Teoh was questioned from 5pm yesterday to 3.45am and was released soon after. However, Teoh apparently said he was tired and so he rested on a settee in the lobby. He was seen sleeping on the settee at 6am. At about 1.30pm, Shukri said, they heard that a body had been found on the 5th floor of the adjacent building and when one of the MACC officers went to investigate, he realised it was one of their witnesses. Shukri said Teoh was not a suspect but was questioned as part of their investigations into the misuse of state allocations."

Why? Why question a person throughout the night? I think it's very inhumane to try and break a person down like this, especially when one is not considered a suspect in any investigation. But even for suspects, this is also an inhumane act. An all-through-the-night interrogation like this not only borders on torture; it IS torture. Any type of death is already tragic enough but this sudden death definitely adds to the political intrigue and tension in the country. Especially so when I read further the Malaysian Insider's report (highlighted in the picture below) that "Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the deceased was found lying in a pool of blood clad in a white shirt, black pants and jacket."

I raised my eyebrows because the police chief's description of the deceased's clothes is totally at odds from the photos. He was wearing a blue shirt over white pants, not white shirt over black pants. Why the discrepancy? Evidence that he was just not on top of the situation? A "misquote" by the Police or Malaysia Insider? A lot of answers is needed here. Anguish. Tragedy. I hope the truth will come out fast.

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