Another cut and paste of important news reports you should not have missed.
Sooner or later these MACC bunch of liars will meet their fate of doom.......
It can be seen they are nervous when being questioned to the specifics..
especially Mohd Anuar Ismail.
This Mohd Anuar Ismail and Hishamuddin Hashim are two monkeys which
will lead to the bigger "money keys" above them.
Note: The MACC Torturing by slapping one's face or hitting the soles of
one's feet is too FAMOUS already. I have friends whose hearing has been
seriously impaired because of the slapping. Hitting the soles has also
caused a serious walking or standing imbalance for the rest of one's life.
Reference: http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=37495
Teoh Beng Hock inquest: MACC officer accused of torturing witnesses, suspects by Tan Yi Liang
| 
Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus
|
SHAH ALAM (Aug 28, 2009): The inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock got heated up today when a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor branch officer was accused of torturing witnesses and suspects. The allegation by Gobind Singh Deo, the lawyer for Teoh's family, was however denied by the officer, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus, the inquest's 19th witness.
He also denied allegations by Gobind that he was being investigated over a police report that torture was used to extract statements at the Selangor MACC office.
Gobind then produced a police report which accused Ashraf of torturing a witness during an interrogation, saying that the witness would be brought to court to testify.
"This report details how the torture is done, how they physically and psychologically break you down, and when we bring this witness to testify, he will identify these officers and how it is done," said Gobind, who presented a copy of the report to Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas. The complainant was not named.
At this point, the counsel assisting the government, Tan Hock Chuan asked for Azmil to advise Ashraf of his rights in light of the evidence within the statement.
Tan said Gobind has the right to pursue this line, although it does not relate to this case, but that to be fair to the witness, he should be told that he can refuse to answer any question that incriminates himself, and it is his right to appoint a lawyer before Gobind pursues this line of questioning further.
Azmil, who then advised Ashraf of his right to decline questions and to seek counsel before answering questions on the report, then asked Gobind to outline the gist of the reports.
"I have a police report detailing how the witness was tortured by MACC officials on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam. Among the allegations were that officers took turns to slap the witness, blindfolding them, wrapping an iron bar to hit the stomach and buttocks, stripping, whipping of the genitals and soles of feet, and other abuse to the genitals," said Gobind.
He said there were more than one police report but no action was taken as "the police also feared the MACC".
This was objected to by MACC counsel Abdul Razak Musa, who questioned the relevance of the report to the inquest.
"This diverts the focus of the inquest, and there is no evidence to prove the claims," said Abdul Razak, who was countered by Selangor government counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who said the two coroners, Dr Khairul Ibrahim and Dr Prashant Samberkar, had not ruled out the possibility that Teoh was tortured prior to his death.
"This report proves that torture does happen and testing this report will prove that the last three witnesses are lying," added Malik.
Azmil allowed the request, but directed that Gobind stick to one report to keep the focus on the inquest.
"A lot of possibilities were raised by Dr Khairul in his testimony, but possibilities remain. We need to keep the scope narrow, and if the allegations are the same, we can stick to one report. If you want to test that theory, we can restrict it to one report," said Azmil.
Reference: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/28753
Torture allegations levelled at MACC
2009-08-28 20:37
SHAH ALAM, Aug 28 — The inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s death heated up today with allegations of torture by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against “victims” who have subsequently lodged police reports on the alleged physical and psychological abuses at its Plaza Masalam office.
Gobind Singh Deo, who is acting on behalf of Teoh’s family, said one of the complainants will be testifying at the inquest to dispute denials by MACC officers that no oppression takes place while they interview witnesses and suspects.
The lawyer made the revelations while cross-examining MACC officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus and sought the courts permission to read one of the police reports to him.
Coroner, Azmil Muntapha Abas was told the police report detailed torture which a victim was subjected to while detained by the MACC, on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam.
The political secretary of DAP’s Ean Yong Hian Wah was questioned at the same MACC office before he was found dead at a landing on the 5th floor of Plaza Masalam, on July 16.
Among the abuses in the police report include being stripped naked, blindfolded, and being kicked in the stomach by MACC officers, who took turns to slap him.
“They also hit him with an iron rod wrapped in newspapers besides canning him on his private parts and on the soles of his feet.”
Gobind said he had pictures of the injuries suffered by the victim and had interviewed him personally.
Lead lawyer for the Attorney-General’s (AG) chambers Tan Hock Chuan said he had no objections to the questions but said the magistrate ought to advise the witness on his rights against self-incrimination or saying anything that could implicate him in a criminal offence.
Both Tan and Azmil were given copies of the police report. However Gobind refused to hand a copy over to MACC legal director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, citing concerns for the victim who lodged the report.
“To be fair, the witness was not one of the MACC officers mentioned in the police report.” said Tan but added the witness should still be given an opportunity to be advised by his own lawyer while the rights against self incrimination should be explained to him.
Meanwhile Abdul Razak argued that the court should not take into account the police report because “it’s not relevant to this case.”
He pointed out that a pathologist who testified earlier had said Teoh was not assaulted.
He added “Even if it happened….” but sat down before completing his sentence.
However lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who is acting for the state government, told the court the pathologist did not discount the possibility that Teoh may have suffered pre-fall injuries. Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus in the waiting room, before his testimony.
All MACC officers, who have testified so far, claimed suspects are not subjected to abuse, and it was important for this fact to be tested, Malik said.
Azmil said he would allow Gobind to used the police reports as a basis in his line of questioning of Mohd Ashraf.
He also explained what self incrimination meant to the 25-year-old MACC officer and informed him that he had a right not to answer the question.
Mohd Ashraf, who worked in a factory before joining the MACC in 2005, said he understood.
However the court was adjourned today before any further question was put to him, and will resume on September 8.
After today’s proceedings were adjourned, Gobind explained that as an officer of the court, he was duty bound to inform the coroner on what basis he was cross-examining witnesses on.
He said this was why he informed the court about the allegations in the police report against the MACC.
“The MACC claims there is no abuse of suspects, we will show otherwise and will do it by way of evidence.”
He added the police reports lodged against the MACC had never been investigated by the police and they too need to explain why.
He said this will be raised not only during the inquest but later at the Royal Commission, which was announced to probe if Teoh’s human rights were violated while questioned by the MACC. (By Neville Spykerman/The Malaysian Insider)
Reference: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/11636-macc-no-procedure-grilling-witnesses
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 07:26:00
THERE is no standard operating procedure for the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) for its investigations or interrogation of witnesses.
MACC deputy superintendent Mohd Anuar Ismail, who said this at the inquest into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Huat, added that all MACC actions must be within the ambit of the MACC Act 2009.
Asked by coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas if there were any procedures applied by the MACC during the custody period or if there was any standing order or internal practice directive, Anuar said they would inform the senior officers and wait for instructions.
Asked by Gobind Singh Deo whether, as the investigating officer, he was responsible for the witness, Anuar said "yes" and that his role was to ensure that witnesses did not face any problems in MACC .
Gobind: How did you ascertain this?
Anuar: Through my officers.
Gobind: But isn’t it not important for you to ask the witness?
Anuar: As an investigating officer, there is no need to ask all witnesses and accused.
Gobind: I f witnesses want to complain and you have this attitude, how are they supposed to complain?
Anuar: I do not know.
Gobind: As an investigating officer, you must be fair to both the accused and the prosecution. If your officer
had used force on witnesses, do you honestly believe that they will tell you about it? Think about it.
Anuar: No.
Anuar also said Teoh did not speak to him when he asked Teoh in MACC recording officer Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim’s room around 2am on July 16 if everything was all right. He did not ask Teoh anything further.
Gobind: How can it not cross your mind that something may have been wrong with Teoh? How can you go back to sleep? Are you not bothered about Teoh?
Anuar: I disagree.
The witness also told the court that as the investigating officer, he did not telephone the police upon receiving news that Teoh’s body was found on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam about 2pm on July 16.
Anuar said he referred the matter to the head of the investigations unit, Hishamuddin Hashim, who instructed him to go to Putrajaya.
Gobind: My God! You all go throughout the whole country while there is a dead body there. What is wrong? Why did you all go to Putrajaya?
Anuar: To get clear instructions.
Gobind: Why only three hours later did the police arrive at the scene? Why did you not tell the police, he (Teoh) was in your custody?
Anuar: The witness had been released.
Gobind: Stop messing around! Don’t play games here! Why did you not lodge a police report immediately?
Anuar: The situation was chaotic at that time because a body had been spotted.
Gobind: Yes, you panicked. But you should not panic if no wrong had been done. Anuar, who had earlier told the inquest that he practised as a lawyer before joining MACC, said he did not not know the law on the
finding of a dead body.
“Forget the law," said Gobind. "As a decent human being, when you find a person dead, will you not call the family or the lawyer of this person?"
Anuar grinned and said he would do so if the dead person was his friend. He later admitted that he did not
lodge a police report as his boss had not instructed him to do so. He did so only the day after the body
was found, when Hishamuddin instructed him make the police report.
Gobind: If you were instructed not to make a report, you would not do so?
Anuar: "I would not make one."
Gobind: But what about the body in the meantime? Leave the dead body there for one week? Is this how the MACC operates?
Anuar: We need to receive instructions first, to know what to do.
Gobind: But why wait for one day? Is this reasonable?
Anuar: To me, it is not reasonable. I waited because I was waiting for instructions on the actual procedure.
Gobind: Did it not hit your conscience that your main witness is dead, and you go into your office
and do nothing?
Anuar: Yes, it did.
Gobind: “You were hiding something, right? This is why you did not lodge a police report so the entire crime scene would be tampered with, because you people killed Teoh Beng Hock!"
MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa objected to the question but Gobind said it was a question the witness could choose to agree or disagree with.
The inquest continues.
Reference: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/11873-teoh-beng-hock-inquest-‘i-have-no-reason-lie’ MACC officer not sure if he punched out, not sure who was with Teoh at that time
Friday, August 28th, 2009 06:57:00
A MALAYSIAN Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer was accused of lying and covering things up during the Teoh Beng Hock death inquest hearing in Shah Alam yesterday.
Mohd Najeib Ahmad Walad, 29, the third MACC witness, said he was not sure if he punched out on July 16 when leaving the MACC office at Plaza Masalam around 2.30am, after smoking, eating and going to the men's room.
He said he left with two officers he identified only as Ridhuan and Hassan. Najeib said he last saw Teoh about
10pm on July 16, sitting on a sofa in the guest area with two officers.
"But I can't remember who they were as I was merely passing by," Najeib said to a question from counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family.
Gobind: What was Teoh doing?
Najeib: He was sitting, I guess, as I did not see him standing. I am not sure if he was lying down or sitting.
Gobind: Can you remember now what he was doing?
Najeib: He was sitting.
Gobind:This is a court. Don't play around! What was his position?
Najeib: He was sitting.
Gobind: Who was there with him?
Najeib: I'm not sure.
Gobind: Did you punch out when you left?
Najeib:I am not sure how I left.
This is because besides punching out' we can also use the intercom to leave.
Gobind: How did you leave then?
Najeib: I'm not sure.
Asked by Gobind to describe the condition at MACC at night, Najeib said it was peaceful.
Gobind: There was no shouting and yelling at each other? Did you see anyone quarrelling when you went to the toilet?
Najeib: I did not hear anything.
Gobind: You were there (in the toilet), and if there was anyone quarrelling, you would know right?
Najeib: If there was I would run. His answer drew laughter from the public gallery.
Gobind asked Najieb if he had run that night, and the witness said no.
On Tuesday, MAAC deputy superintendent Mohd Anuar Ismail told the inquest thay he was told by an officer called Bulkini that he (Bulkini) had seen Teoh quarrelling with DAP Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah at 2am on July 16.
Gobind: How did you know you left the office at 2.30am?
Najeib: I merely estimated the time.
Gobind: How did you make that estimation?
Najeib: Because my friends suggested we leave about 2.15am.
Najeib said that there was a clock at the punch card machine that showed 2.30am and he may have seen the time there.
The lawyer lost his cool and suggested that Najeib was lying his way through the proceeding.
"You are lying, Ini semua satu penipuan (This is all a lie). All the answers are either tak pasti (not sure) when he says it's ‘pasti' (sure), he can't answer the question. You are covering up. That night Teoh Beng Hock was whacked and that is why all your testimony is inconsistent," Gobind said..
"No!" Najeib replied.
Questioned by government appointed lawyer Tan Hock Chuan, Najeib said he was part of a team that had gone to the Selangor State Secretariat building on the afternoon of July 15 to get documents on State allocations for the Seri Kembangan constituency.
The team was led by Mohd Anuar Ismail, the investigating officer in Teoh's case.
He said after checks were done on Teoh's laptop and desktop, he had found four invoices in the laptop and four letters on donations from the Seri Kembangan constituency.
"Teoh later insisted he wanted the laptop and the CPU (central processing unit) to be with him and he also insisted (after being told to go to the MACC building) that he wanted to drive there himself."
Najeib, who had followed Teoh in his car, said Teoh appeared restless as he drove to Plaza Masalam.
He also said that Anuar instructed him to print copies of the documents. Najeib said he had to ask Teoh for the passwords to access the laptop and desktop.
He also said that he did not jot down the password for the laptop but remembered the password for Teoh's desktop, which was ‘SUK 2009'.
Gobind: Because you did not jot down the password, you can't verify that the documents came from the laptop, can you?
Najeib: No.
The witness also said that he did not know whether MACC officers used force on suspects that were called in.
Asked by MACC lawyer Datuk Abdul Razak Musa whether he had reason to lie, Najeib answered:"No."
Razak: On the night of July 16, did you see anyone being interrogated loudly, the way Gobind questioned
you?
Najeib: No.
Reference: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/28635MACC officer admits top officials gave orders
2009-08-25 18:46
SHAH ALAM: Anti-graft investigator Mohd Anuar Ismail told the coroner’s court Tuesday that top Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials had ordered him to step up investigations into allegations that Selangor assemblymen misused public funds.
He named the senior officials as Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and investigations unit chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah.
One of them was named in a mystery letter alleging political collusion in investigating the Pakatan Rakyat state government.
Mohd Anuar, 32, is the 16th witness in the inquest into political aide Teoh Beng Hock's death on July 16 at the MACC office in Plaza Masalam here.
Previously a lawyer, he had gone through six months of training at a police college in Kuala Kubu Baru before joining the MACC.
Teoh was earlier interrogated for nearly 10 hours before he was found dead the morning he was to register his marriage to his two-month pregnant fiancee.
The MACC investigator also admitted to Teoh family lawyer Gobind Singh Deo that it was unusual to question people into the wee hours of the morning.
He also told the court that he did not check if Teoh's lawyer M. Manoharan had turned up to be present during the interrogation. Gobind claimed Manoharan had waited an hour at the MACC office.
Gobind: Why did you need to question the witness at night?
Mohd Anuar: That's normal practice.
Gobind: Don't be silly. If I asked you to climb a tree, will you do it? I'm asking you why?
Mohd Anuar: To hasten the investigation.
Gobind: Why?
Mohd Anuar: [after hesitating] Because the issue had become sensitive.
Gobind: What issue?
Mohd Anuar: The issue on the allocation of state assemblymen. Because the newspapers were publishing it every day.
The MACC man's reply drew a snide remark from Gobind before he continued his heated interrogation of the witness.
Gobind: You were directed to bring them in and get confessions from them?
Mohd Anuar: No.
Gobind: Please! You're on oath here.
Mohd Anuar: [hesitates] Ya.
Gobind: Who directed you?
Mohd Anuar: There were two people.
Gobind: Who are they?
Mohd Anuar: The deputy director Tuan Hishamuddin Hashim and Tuan Hairul Ilham.
Gobind: Who is he?
Mohd Anuar: Head of investigations unit.
Gobind seemed satisfied that he succeeded in extracting some names from Mohd Anuar, but couldn't seem to stop from pointing out that the MACC investigator who had been asked to step up the investigations had been “sleeping all night”, causing the public gallery to erupt into chuckles -- even drawing a smile on the magistrate's face — and a faint protest from the witness.
MACC legal affairs director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa objected to Gobind's line of questioning and later called the inquest a “kangaroo court”.
Coroner magistrate Azmil Munthapa Abas asked Gobind to “soften” his manner of questioning the witness. (By Debra Chong/The Malaysian Insider)
Reference: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=37342
IO ordered to pressure Beng Hock into spilling the beans Tan Yi Liang
SHAH ALAM (Aug 25, 2009) : Senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers ordered an investigating officer to detain political aide Teoh Beng Hock and three other witnesses for questioning overnight to pressure them to spill the beans over alleged misappropriation of allocation for a state assemblyman, the inquest into Teoh's death was told today.
MACC investigating officer Mohd Anuar Ismail said this was done because the investigation into the case had to be "sped up" as the issue of the alleged misuse of public funds had become "sensitive" as it was all over the newspapers.
Under intense questioning from Teoh's family counsel Gobind Singh Deo, Anuar admitted he had held Teoh and three other witnesses over the night of July 15 as the Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and the head of investigations Hairul Ilham had directed him to extract information from the witnesses.
He said Teoh was questioned by two officers from 6pm until 3 to 3.45am the next day, and described the extended detention as "normal".
He said he was not aware that Teoh's lawyer M. Manoharan had been waiting to see Teoh for more than an hour, although he had agreed to allow the lawyer to be present during the questioning. He said he however had not checked if Manoharan was there, as Teoh was just a witness and had not been arrested.
Gobind Singh: "Isn't it oppressive for an individual to be interrogated late into the night?
"It may tire the witness," said Anuar, who admitted there were was no standard operating procedure for interrogating witnesses, except the procedures under the Anti-Corruption Act and several other laws.
| 
Gobind Singh
|
On another matter raised by Gobind, Anuar admitted he did not make a police report immediately after seeing Teoh's body at the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam at 2pm on July 16 as he was directed by Hishamuddin to go to Putrajaya to seek instruction from MACC headquarters. "There was panic upon seeing a body there. I informed Hishamuddin about the matter and sought further instruction," said Anuar.
This response shocked Gobind, who asked Anuar whether he cared about the fate of his "star witness".
Anuar replied that he would have made a report if he was "instructed to do so".
Gobind then suggested that Anuar was "actually hiding something". "That's why you were afraid to lodge a police report at that time, so that you could conceal the evidence at the scene because it was actually the MACC officers who killed Teoh," he said.
Anuar denied this, along with an allegation that the MACC routinely questioned witnesses at night to hide any evidence of torture as the surrounding offices were closed.
| 
Mohd Anuar Ismail
|
Anuar said when he went to check on the recording of Teoh's statement at 2am by a junior MACC officer, Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim, Teoh appeared uncomfortable, as if he was holding something back. "I suspected that something was amiss, but decided not to ask Teoh what was troubling him in front of the recording officer," said Anuar, who said he went back to sleep.
Gobind then accused Anuar of lying to the court when he testified yesterday that Teoh was not oppressed during the questioning, since he was sleeping.
When Gobind suggested that Anuar did not know whether Teoh was oppressed, Anuar nodded.
Under questioning by MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, Anuar said the MACC had seized boxes of documents from contractors linked to Teoh's boss executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah regarding the misappropriation, and testified that Teoh had seemed "nervous" when his laptop and desktop were seized at his office at the Selangor State Secretariat building. He said four pages of documents printed from the laptop were used in the questioning of Teoh.
The inquest continues tomorrow.
