Urimai chairman P. Ramasamy has strongly criticised the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over its recent gesture of financial assistance to the family of Teoh Beng Hock, calling it an affront to those still seeking accountability over the 2009 tragedy. He argued that no amount of money could substitute the justice Teoh’s next of kin have been waiting for over a decade.
Ramasamy asserted that what the family truly needs is closure through the identification and prosecution of individuals responsible for the death, not symbolic gestures or financial compensation. He also questioned MACC chief Azam Baki’s sincerity, suggesting that unless those accountable are named and held responsible, official statements of concern ring hollow.
Earlier, MACC had extended an offer of financial support to Teoh’s family as a form of goodwill, paired with an apology for the distress and loss they had endured over the years. Azam noted that the latest round of investigations had not produced sufficient evidence to press charges, though he insisted that the commission viewed the case with seriousness.
Teoh Beng Hock, a political aide to a Selangor assemblyman, was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, shortly after being interrogated for hours at the MACC’s Selangor office located in the same building. His death sparked national outrage and became one of the country’s most contentious unresolved cases.
An inquest initially concluded with an open verdict, but the Court of Appeal in 2014 determined that Teoh’s death resulted from actions taken by unidentified individuals, possibly involving MACC personnel. Subsequent investigations, including two special teams formed in 2011 and 2015, were later closed without charges. A fresh investigation in 2019, classified under wrongful confinement, also failed to result in prosecutions.
In 2015, the government reached a civil settlement with the family, which included a RM600,000 payout and RM60,000 in legal costs. Still, Ramasamy emphasised that the family has never sought compensation but justice and truth about what really happened in the MACC office that day.
The latest offer, he said, not only fails to deliver that justice but risks trivialising a case that remains a painful symbol of institutional failure.
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