KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — The DAP last night reaffirmed their commitment to uncovering the truth behind the death of Teoh Beng Hock, who died exactly one year ago yesterday.
The 30-year-old political secretary to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was found dead last July 16, nine floors below the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Selangor headquarters where he had been taken in for questioning the day before.
“We in DAP, we in Pakatan Rakyat, will give our full assurance that we will fight, fight to the end for Teoh Beng Hock,” Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assemby Hall here.
“Let them threaten us with police reports, let them threaten us with contempt. Let them do whatever it is they need to do to try to break us.
“But they will not break our spirit because we will fight on.”
He told the packed hall that DAP will remember Teoh for years to come, as well as the lessons the political aide’s tragic death had taught the party.
“The most important lesson we learned from all this: Together we fight, together we fall,” he said.
“And if one of us were to fall alone, the rest of us will stand up strong for him. The rest of us will fight for justice for him. The rest of us will make sure that justice prevails.”
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was also present, questioned why the inquest into Teoh’s death had yet to turn up anything conclusive.
“Why after one year are we still searching and groping for answers?” he asked.
“There has to be closure for the family. There should be accountability so that those responsible can be brought to justice.”
The DAP secretary-general compared Teoh’s death to that of pop superstar Michael Jackson, who died slightly over a year ago.
“Michael Jackson died on June 25. One year, he has died. We all know how he died, isn’t it? The person who is responsible for his death is now in prison, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Teoh Beng Hock died one year [ago], a month later. And we are still as far from the truth as we were one year ago.”
The Bagan MP stressed that Teoh could not have committed suicide as he was due to register his marriage to his pregnant sweetheart the next day.
“I ask (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak): ‘Would you commit suicide if you’re going to marry (Datin Seri) Rosmah (Mansor) tomorrow?’ No! Because he loves Rosmah!” he said to laughter.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah, who represented PKR, said it was important to get to the bottom of Teoh’s death as it determined the future trajectory of Malaysia’s public institutions.
“We want this country’s democratic institutions to succeed,” she said, citing the need for an independent judiciary and press.
“Those are the things that matter. Once we have lost that, we have lost the reason to be proud to be a Malaysian,” she said.