KUALA LUMPUR: There is a high possibility that the family members of Teoh Beng Hock will be among those called in to facilitate investigations into his 2009 death.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said he was aware of the government's decision to reopen the investigation.
"I heard that. Once the instruction has been given, we will revisit the case. That is obvious. Any developments will be announced at a later time," he told a press conference in Bukit Aman today (Friday).
When asked if Teoh's family members would be called to facilitate further investigations, he said the police would see if there was a necessity for it.
"We will see the necessity to call in everybody. If we reopen the investigation, we will restart everything. Any new information that they have, we will need to re-evaluate and the possibility to call them in is very likely," he said.
Yesterday, the government had agreed to reopen investigations into Teoh's death.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in announcing the decision, gave his assurance that the new investigation would be conducted transparently and fairly without interference.
He said this decision also considered the Court of Appeal's views on the case on Sept 5, 2014.
On July 16, 2009, Teoh was detained overnight for questioning on the 14th floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Shah Alam. He was later found dead on the fifth-floor landing of the building.
In July 2011, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) ruled that his death was due to suicide.
However, in September 2014, the Court of Appeal found that Teoh's death was caused by multiple injuries from a fall from the building that was accelerated by "an unlawful act or acts of person or persons unknown" who were involved in the case.
In May 2015, the government agreed to pay Teoh's family RM600,000 as a settlement for a civil suit initiated in 2012 for negligence resulting in his death.
In January last year, Teoh's parents filed for a judicial review to compel the police to complete their investigations into his death.