SHAH ALAM, 19 Aug 2009: The Coroner’s Court today directed the police to conduct investigation into the contents of a mysterious letter that had details relating to the death of Teoh Beng Hock.
Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas, who studied the letter, said it clearly had several elements that were closely related to the proccedings of the inquest.
“As such, I need to direct the investigating officer Ahmad Nazri Zainal to investigate the contents of the letter that are related to the scope of the inquest proceedings to determine the cause of [Teoh’s] death,” he said.
He also reminded the lawyers involved to not reveal any important information regarding the contents of the letter to the media, which could hamper police investigations.
The letter was received yesterday by the lawyer for Teoh’s family, Gobind Singh Deo, from a person when the inquest proceedings ended yesterday evening.
“Yesterday, I received a letter dated 5 Aug that contained matters related to the inquest proceedings, but I cannot reveal the contents here,” Gobind told the court as soon as proceedings began at 3pm.
“With this I want to apply to the court to direct the investigating officer to investigate the contents of the letter, which are important and relevant to the inquest proceedings,” he said.
The letter that was of five typed pages was then handed over to coroner Azmil Muntapha to be studied.
Lawyer Tan Hock Chuan, for the government, did not object to Gobind’s application, and said: “The allegations in the letter need to be investigated by the police as we are all here to get to the truth in this matter.
“There are several names mentioned in the letter. The police need to be given the opportunity to determine the truth or otherwise of the allegations,” said Tan.
Outside the court, Gobind told the media that the letter was received by him in the court building here between 5 and 6pm yesterday.
He said the letter contained much relevant information for the coroner regarding reasons that led to Teoh’s death. “However, the coroner had asked that all parties do not reveal [the contents] as investigations are being done,” he said.
Asked whether the letter would bring about changes in the case, Gobind said: “To me, yes, it may bring new information.”
Teoh, 30, the political aide to the chairman of the Selangor state committee for new villages and illegal factories management, Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on 16 July on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam here, after giving his statement as a witness into allegations of misappropriation of Selangor state funds at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office in the same building.
The inquest proceedings continue on Monday. — Bernama
Gopal Raj Kumar says
[I reiterate that the] “mystery letter” published by Raja Petra Kamaruddin on his website and the letter handed to the court in the Teoh Beng Hock investigation are one and the same document.
What needs to be considered is how the letter more mysteriously appears on Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s website after the document had been handed over the the courts.
Secondly what needs to be investigated is the provenance of that letter. [Could Raja Petra have authored it himself?]
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