MEDIA STATEMENT By Ramkapal on 22/5/2025, at PJ office.
1. The notification by the Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah, Ibu Pejabat Kontinjen Selangor in its letter dated 20.5.2025 that the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) had, on 19.5.2025, classified the investigations into the death of Teoh Beng Hock as No Further Action (NFA) is a major disappointment and flies in the face of the findings of the Court of Appeal in Teoh’s family’s appeal against the decisions of the High Court and the Magistrates Court in relation to the inquiry into Teoh’s death (the said findings of the Court of Appeal).
2. The said letter states that investigations were conducted under section 342 of the Penal Code which is in relation to unlawful confinement.
3. With respect, there seems to be no justification whatsoever for the said investigations to have been limited only to section 342 when there is evidence suggesting that Teoh’s death, which occurred as a result of a fall from the MACC Headquarters on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam in 2009 was riddled with suspicion, which was why the Court of Appeal came to the following conclusion:
“The proper verdict on the evidence should be the following:
“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 MACC officers who were involved in the arrest and investigation of the deceased”.”
4. Is the AGC now saying that there is absolutely no evidence of such unlawful acts from the investigations conducted for the past 16 years?
5. The entire investigations into Teoh’s death seems to have been poorly handled as it has taken 16 years for such investigations to complete, which is certainly unprecedented.
6. This is further complicated by PDRM’s repeated failures to conclude investigations to the point that Teoh’s family had no alternative but to commence legal proceedings to compel it to do so, which was ordered by the High Court to be done within 6 months on 21.11.2024 (the said High Court order).
7. The fact that Teoh was in the custody of the MACC at the time of his death is certainly a cause for concern and, again, raises serious questions as to whether any of its officers were involved in his death.
8. In light of the above, the Attorney General ought to explain why it decided to NFA the said investigations as there are too many questions that remain unresolved.
9. While it is acknowledged that the AG need not disclose his reasons for the said NFA decision, I urge him to do so in this case as it is clearly in the public interest.
10. The public and Teoh’s family have the right to know, amongst others:
i. Why were investigations not carried out for homicide or culpable homicide since the said High Court decision, particularly in light of the findings of the Court of Appeal above?;
ii. Why did the AGC itself not confirm its said decision?;
iii. Whether the said findings of the Court of Appeal were wrong?;
iv. Why did PDRM take so long to investigate this case?;
v. Whether this decision to NFA was made to avoid the legal repercussions of not complying with the said High Court order?; and
vi. Whether the evidence produced in the previous proceedings in relation to Teoh’s death, including the inquest proceedings were insufficient?
11. The death of Teoh marks a dark chapter in the country’s history and questions will always remain if the AG is not forthcoming as to why he chose to take no further action in this case.In the circumstance, I urge the AG to disclose the reasons for the said NFA forthwith in the interests of transparency and accountability for the benefit of the public and Teoh’s family.
赵家代表律师蓝卡巴星在2025年5月22日在八打灵的媒体声明：
1. 雪兰莪州警察总部刑事调查局于2025年5月20日的信函中通知，总检察署（AGC）已于2025年5月19日决定对赵明福死亡案的调查列为不再采取进一步行动 （NFA），此举令人深感失望，且公然违背了上诉法院的结论——即赵明福家属针对高等法院和推事庭关于其死因调查的裁决所提出的上诉（以下简称“上诉法院的结论”）。
2. 上述信函指出，调查仅依据《刑法》第342条（非法拘禁）进行。
3. 然而，仅依据第342条展开调查显然毫无正当性，因现有证据表明，赵明福于2009年从莎阿南 Plaza Masalam 14楼反贪会总部坠楼身亡一案疑点重重。正因如此，上诉法院得出以下结论：
根据证据，适当的结论应为：
赵明福之死是因从Plaza Masalam 14楼坠落导致的多处受伤所致，而这一坠落是由身份不明人士（包括参与逮捕和调查赵明福的反贪会官员）的非法行为直接造成或加速导致的。
4. 总检察署是否认为，经过过去16年的调查，此案中完全不存在任何关于上述非法行为的证据？
5. 赵明福案的调查全程显然处理不当，耗时16年才完成，堪称史无前例。
6. 更复杂的是，警方屡次未能完成调查，迫使赵明福家属不得不通过法律程序强制要求警方履行职责。高等法院已于2024年11月21日下令警方在6个月内完成调查（以下简称“高等法院命令”）。
7. 赵明福在反贪会拘留期间死亡的事实令人极度担忧，并再次引发严肃质疑——反贪会官员是否参与了他的死亡？
8. 鉴于上述情况，总检察长必须解释为何决定对调查不再采取进一步行动，因本案仍存在大量未解疑问。
9. 尽管总检察长无需公开其NFA决定的理由，但基于公共利益，我敦促他在此案中破例说明。
10. 公众与赵明福家属有权知悉以下问题：
i. 为何自高等法院裁决以来，特别是在上诉法院作出上述结论后，未以谋杀或过失致死罪展开调查？
ii. 为何总检察署自身未确认这一决定？
iii. 上诉法院的结论是否错误？
iv. 警方为何耗时如此之久调查此案？
v. 此次NFA决定是否为了规避违反高等法院命令的法律后果？
vi. 此前与赵明福死亡相关的程序（包括死因调查）中提交的证据是否不足？
11. 赵明福之死是我国历史上的黑暗篇章。若总检察长不立即公开不再采取进一步行动的理由，质疑将永不消散。基于透明与问责的原则，我敦促总检察署即刻披露详情，以回应公众与赵明福家属的诉求。
蓝卡巴星笔