The Malaysian Bar - MPs question 'disciplinary action' against MACC trio

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MPs question 'disciplinary action' against MACC trio

Friday, 29 June 2012 09:04am

©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Hemananthani Sivanadam and Calyn Ong

KUALA LUMPUR (June 27, 2012): The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC)'s decision to take disciplinary action against its three officers implicated in the death of Teoh Beng Hock has received lukewarm response from parliamentarians.

Teo Ni Ching (DAP-Serdang) in a statement to theSun questioned the kind of disciplinary action that will be taken against the MACC trio.

“According to a written reply from the Prime Minister to me dated June 20, 2012, a special investigation unit set up by MACC to probe the matter found that the only disciplinary misconduct by the MACC trio is 'not monitoring the witness during interrogation'.

“So my first question to the MACC chief (commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed) is, what type of disciplinary action will be taken against the trio? Is it verbal or written warning or something more serious?” she asked.

“Abu Kassim’s announcement to me means nothing. In any event, disciplinary action is not enough. We want to see MACC trio be charged in court and send to jail,” she said.

R. Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) said that the offence was serious and to merely have disciplinary action is “shocking”, adding that it is sending the wrong signal and creating a culture of impunity.

Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (BN-Kota Belud) however said that if the disciplinary action is decided, then it must be followed through.

He said that the MACC should learn from the entire episode adding that it must be more transparent and adhere to the Standard Operating Procedured (SOPs) in the future.

“One mistake is done but it has created such a bad image for MACC and subsequently its image was undermined by the public,” he said.

Meanwhile, civil society said the MACC action is "too little, too late".

"The decision came too late. The real problem now is that MACC is still not accountable to the death of Teoh.

"Until now, we still do not know (Teoh's) real cause of death, it is still a mystery. Even after the RCI, there are still different views on the real cause of death," said Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Nalini Elumalai.

Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee hit out at MACC for taking so long to do the necessary.

“The delay reflects poorly on the will of MACC to remedy problems within it, and the lack of criminal charges, reflect poorly on the investigation methods of the authorities,” Lim said.

Christopher Lee, who headed the Bar Council team at Teoh's RCI, welcomed MACC's decision.

"The disciplinary action contemplated to be taken by MACC is however an internal mechanism. It is not a prosecution for criminal conduct or offence," he said.

He added that the report containing the findings and recommendations of the RCI is clear.

"The Attorney-General Chambers should follow the recommendations, at least prosecute (the trio) for giving false evidence and/or falsifying evidence under Section 191 and 192 of the Penal Code," he said.

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