Teoh Beng Hock family knew for seven years death wasn’t probed as murder, court told

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The High Court here was told today that the family of Teoh Beng Hock has been aware for more than seven years that the death of the then political secretary in 2009 had never been investigated as a murder case.

Senior Federal Counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali raised the matter in the government’s preliminary objection to the fresh judicial review application filed by Beng Hock’s family on April 17 this year.

According to Mohammad Sallehuddin, the investigation into Beng Hock’s death in 2009 had actually been reclassified under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement in 2019.

He noted that while the family had previously complained about the slow pace of the investigation and questioned whether the matter had been referred to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), they had delayed taking legal action.

“Despite their knowledge, they only filed the application to commence a judicial review now, which has exceeded the statutory deadline of three months.

“Pursuant to Order 53 Rule 3(6) of the Rules of Court 2012, the three-month period for the family to seek leave for judicial review began on June 28, 2019, the date of a letter from the applicants’ previous lawyer questioning the classification of the investigation under Section 342 of the Penal Code, and expired on September 29, 2019,” he said.

In response, lawyer Lim Wei Jiet, representing Beng Hock’s family, countered that they had written to the police and the Attorney General in the past.

However, they never received any confirmation on whether the investigations was being conducted under Section 302 for murder or Section 304 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

“But now they come to court today claiming we are out of time. If the court agrees with them, we urge the court to grant an extension of time. This case has generated massive public interest for many years, yet the family has been left completely in the dark about what happened to him,” Lim said. Beng Hock’s parents were present in court today.

Judge Norliza Othman then fixed November 17 to deliver the ruling on whether to grant the family’s request for an extension of time.

On April 17 this year, the deceased’s brother, Teoh Meng Kee, and parents, Teoh Leong Hwee and Teng Shuw Hoi, filed an application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings. They named the Inspector-General of Police, PDRM Criminal Investigation Department director, PDRM, Attorney-General and the Government of Malaysia as the first to fifth respondents.

The applicants are seeking a declaration that the respondents have a legal duty to initiate an investigation into Beng Hock’s death on July 16, 2009, under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, or culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Penal Code and seeking the mandamus order to compel the respondents to complete the investigation within 120 days from the date of the court order.

On November 21, 2024, the High Court here ordered PDRM to complete the investigation into Beng Hock’s death within six months after allowing a judicial review application by the deceased’s parents.

However, on May 20, 2025, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters wrote a letter to the family’s former lawyer stating that the investigation had been conducted under the offence of wrongful confinement pursuant to Section 342 of the Penal Code, and that the Attorney General’s Chambers had decided to take No Further Action (NFA) on the matter.

Beng Hock, who was then political secretary to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead at the Plaza Masalam building in Shah Alam after having given a statement at the MACC office on the 14th floor.

On January 5, 2011, the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court returned an open verdict, ruling that Beng Hock’s death in 2009 was neither a suicide nor a homicide, and finding that no third party was involved in his death.

Subsequently, on July 21, 2011, the Royal Commission of Inquiry established to investigate Beng Hock’s death ruled that his death was by suicide. On September 5, 2014, the Court of Appeal reversed the open verdict in Beng Hock’s death case and ruled that his death resulted from an unlawful act committed by one or more unidentified persons. — Bernama

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吉隆坡，11月2日讯——今天，吉隆坡高等法院获悉，张明福的家人七年多来一直知道，这位时任政治秘书于2009年去世的案件从未作为谋杀案进行调查。

联邦高级律师穆罕默德·萨利赫丁·穆罕默德·阿里在今年 4 月 17 日对本·霍克家人提出的新的司法审查申请提出初步反对意见时，提出了此事。

据 Mohammad Sallehuddin 称，对 Beng Hock 于 2009 年死亡的调查实际上在 2019 年根据《刑法》第 342 条（非法拘禁）进行了重新分类。

他指出，虽然该家庭此前曾抱怨调查进展缓慢，并质疑此事是否已移交总检察署（AGC），但他们却迟迟没有采取法律行动。

“尽管他们明知故犯，却直到现在才提交启动司法审查的申请，这已经超过了三个月的法定期限。

“根据 2012 年法院规则第 53 条第 3 款第 (6) 项的规定，家属申请司法审查的三个月期限从 2019 年 6 月 28 日开始，即申请人前律师致函质疑根据《刑法》第 342 条对调查进行分类的日期，到 2019 年 9 月 29 日结束，”他说。

对此，代表 Beng Hock 家属的律师 Lim Wei Jiet 反驳说，他们过去曾致函警方和总检察长。

然而，他们始终没有得到任何确认，即调查是根据《刑法》第 302 条（谋杀罪）还是第 304 条（过失杀人罪）进行的。

“但他们今天来到法庭，声称我们已超过时效。如果法庭同意他们的说法，我们恳请法庭准予延期。这起案件多年来一直备受公众关注，但他的家人却对他的遭遇一无所知，”林先生说道。本霍克的父母今天也出庭了。

诺丽莎·奥斯曼法官随后将11月17日定为裁决日，决定是否批准该家庭提出的延期请求。

今年4月17日，死者的兄弟张孟基（Teoh Meng Kee）及其父母张良辉（Teoh Leong Hwee）和邓树海（Teng Shuw Hoi）向法院提交申请，请求启动司法审查程序。他们将警察总监、马来西亚皇家警察刑事调查部主任、马来西亚皇家警察总检察长和马来西亚政府列为第一至第五被告。

申请人请求法院宣告，根据《刑法》第302条（谋杀罪）或第304条（不构成谋杀罪的过失杀人罪），答辩人有法律义务对2009年7月16日Beng Hock的死亡事件展开调查，并请求法院发出强制令，责令答辩人在法院命令下达之日起120天内完成调查。

2024年11月21日，高等法院在批准死者父母提出的司法复核申请后，命令马来西亚皇家警察在六个月内完成对Beng Hock死亡事件的调查。

然而，2025 年 5 月 20 日，雪兰莪州警察总部刑事调查部致函该家庭的前律师，称调查是根据《刑法》第 342 条非法拘禁罪进行的，并且总检察署已决定对此事不采取进一步行动。

当时担任斯里肯邦安州议员颜永贤华的政治秘书的本霍克，在沙阿南的马萨拉姆广场大厦14楼的反贪污委员会办公室作证后，被发现死亡。

2011 年 1 月 5 日，莎阿南验尸法庭作出开放式判决，裁定 Beng Hock 于 2009 年的死亡既非自杀也非他杀，并认定没有第三方参与其死亡。

随后，2011年7月21日，为调查本霍克之死而成立的皇家调查委员会裁定其死于自杀。2014年9月5日，上诉法院推翻了原先对本霍克死亡案的开放式判决，裁定其死于一名或多名身份不明人士实施的非法行为。——马新社

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