KUALA LUMPUR: The government has agreed to reopen the investigation into the 2009 death of Teoh Beng Hock.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, announcing the decision today, assured 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.
"Today, I met with the family of the late Teoh Beng Hock in Putrajaya and had an extensive conversation with his parents, Teng Shuw Hoi and Teoh Leong Hwee, as well as his child, Teoh Er Jia, and his sister, Teoh Lee Lan.
"I listened to all their grievances and several requests from the family. I have followed this case closely for a long time and understand the sorrow and suffering of the family, who have long fought for justice for Teoh.
"I have expressed the government's commitment to reopening the investigation into Beng Hock's death," he said in a Facebook post today.
Earlier, Anwar and Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo met with Teoh's family members at Seri Perdana.
Teoh's family had earlier proposed reopening the investigation with the assistance of international crime experts.
"The case has been investigated for 15 years and has yet to be completed," said the family's lawyer Ramkarpal Singh.
He said the prime minister agreed to the family's appeal for the investigation to be completed quickly.
Meanwhile, Teoh's sister, Lee Lan, said the family was dissatisfied with the case being investigated under Section 342 of the Penal Code since it was reopened in 2018.
She said it should be investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
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 investigations into his death.