Civil society groups plan nationwide forums to protest Teoh Beng Hock NFA
Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement and other civil society groups at the press conference to announce the forums today. (TBH-ADA pic)
PETALING JAYA : A coalition of civil society groups will kick off a series of nationwide forums to protest the police's decision to classify the death of Teoh Beng Hock as requiring no further action (NFA).
The campaign, led by the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement (TBH-ADA), aims to rally public pressure on the government to address long-standing concerns over the former political aide's death in 2009.
'We sincerely urge all justice-loving citizens, civil society and political activists to attend the forums.
'Let us resist forgetting, rekindle memory, and call back justice together,' the group said in a statement after announcing the forums at a press conference today.
TBH-ADA said the campaign is anchored on three key demands – an independent international investigation into Teoh's death, prosecution of those responsible under murder or culpable homicide laws, and urgent institutional reforms to prevent future custodial deaths.
The first forum will be held in Penang on June 22, followed by another in Melaka on July 11. More forums are in the pipeline.
The group said the Teoh family remains steadfast in demanding accountability and will not let the matter fade from public memory.
'Forgetting is democracy's greatest enemy. It allows deaths to be normalised and broken promises to be forgiven.
'Redressing Beng Hock's death is not just justice for one family. Teoh Beng Hock has become a symbol of custodial death in detention centres,' it said.
Earlier this month, the Attorney-General's Chambers said it found insufficient evidence to bring charges following a fresh investigation by police into Teoh's death, thus maintaining its NFA classification.
The re-investigation had been ordered by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in November last year, which directed police to re-examine all aspects of the case.
Teoh was found dead on July 16, 2009 after falling from the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, Selangor, after being questioned for several hours by officers at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters.
An inquest into his death initially returned an open verdict. However, in 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that the death was caused by 'one or more unknown persons', including MACC officers.
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