Appeals court allows Beng Hock’s family to seek review of coroner’s open verdict
The Court of Appeal granted Teoh Meng Kee’s request for leave. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — The Court of Appeal has granted leave to Teoh Beng Hock’s brother, Teoh Meng Kee, to seek a judicial review of the coroner’s open verdict on the political aide’s death.
The three-man panel said in a unanimous decision that the court was satisfied that there was a question of law which could be pursued further for interpretation, The Star reported today.
The High Court here had earlier dismissed an application for a revision in the inquest and upheld the verdict by Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas, who found that Beng Hock’s death was neither a suicide nor homicide.
While the judge conceded that the open verdict left much hanging, it was the only option available to the coroner since evidence was absent to support a conclusion.
Beng Hock, a DAP political aide, was found dead outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s office at Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam on July 16, 2009 after being interrogated overnight.
On July 21, 2011, a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) concluded that he was driven to suicide after being subject to aggressive and relentless interrogation by three MACC officers.
The Teoh family, however, has refused to accept the panel’s findings, insisting that Beng Hock had no reason to kill himself.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers had also requested a revision into the open verdict that was returned in the inquest into Beng Hock’s death but later withdrew it in September last year.
It was filed before the RCI into Beng Hock’s death had been established was therefore no longer required as the commission had delivered its findings.
