MACC Sets Up Team To Probe Misconduct By Three Officers

KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has set up a special investigation team to investigate three of its officers who were found to have violated regulations while interrogating political aide Teoh Beng Hock.In a statement here on Saturday, MACC said it received and viewed seriously the suggestions for its improvement as outlined in the Royal Commission Of Inquiry (RCI) Report To Investigate The Death Of Teoh Beng Hock which was released on Thursday.According to the statement, the special investigation team is meant to be a proactive follow-up on the suggestions and simultaneously, to act on the three officers as contained in the report.

The special team headed by MACC Deputy Commissioner (Management and Professionalism) Zakaria Jaffar will conduct a thorough in-house investigation and prepare a comprehensive report.The report will be submitted to the Complaints Committee which comprises four independent individuals, and chaired by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah.Also in the team are former senior deputy secretary-general in the Prime Minister's Department Muhammad Mohd Noor, former Public Complaints Bureau director-general Wan Abdul Wahab Abdullah and lawyer V. Ravindran.

Teoh, 30, who was political secretary to Selangor Exco Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead in the corridor of the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, Selangor on July 16, 2009, after giving a statement at the MACC office on the 14th floor of the same building.The RCI concluded he was not murdered but had committed suicide after undergoing tremendous pressure from aggressive and continuous interrogation by MACC investigating officers.The RCI further found that investigating officers Hishamuddin Hashim, Mohd Anuar Ismail and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus had used aggressive and unacceptable tactics that strayed from normal procedures while interrogating Teoh.

According to the press statement, the three have either been sacked or suspended from duties."MACC wishes to stress here that it will not compromise or protect any officer found guilty of wrong-doing, crime or misconduct," it said, adding that the commission would provide full cooperation to the police to carry out the investigations freely and transparently.MACC has already acted and is taking action on the suggestions in the RCI, such as installing a closed-circuit television camera, setting up a 'Video Interview Room', ensuring that all clients are entertained on the ground level of the MACC building and ensuring that clients are constantly escorted while in the premises.

Source : Bernama