I borrow his post to express that's a piece ofvmine mind too! Salute myGOoDfRiend once championing the PKR cause,now more independently fighting the Malaysian cause across the political divide. Thanks a million, matey Din, the next endless round of Kpoi Bru at Subang Jaya on Desi! Or shall we head for San Francisco and wear some flowers in our (dwindling) hair?:) ~~ DesiFOOLofErrata sometimes
April 8, 2011
Angels of Death in Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
by Din Merican
Last week, I had described the nationwide blitz by the MACC on the Royal Malaysian Customs Department as nothing more than an April Fool’s joke. The MACC thought that they had pulled a big stunt against Malaysians as a diversion to cover up for their officers who were caught with pornography in the Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry (TBH RCI). Instead, Teoh’s ghost has struck back at the MACC with a vengeance – in the death of Deputy Director Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed of the Royal Malaysian Customs.
The Mysterious Death of a Public Servant
If Teoh was a fragile young Chinese man; if Teoh’s faith that did not prohibit suicide and if Teoh was too weak to withstand pressure, can the same be said of Ahmad Sarbani? Here was a Deputy Director of Customs, 56 years of age, known to have strong family and religious values with a wife and 5 children, known to be humble and well liked by all, and also a pious Muslim. So what could have driven him to his death?
A Malaysian Insider report by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani had this caption “ Mustahil Sarbani boleh bunuh diri, kata rakan-rakannya” (Impossible for Sarbani to commit suicide, say his friends) and quoted that many of his friends expressed utter disbelief that he could commit suicide. That article even cited his childhood friend, Ridzuan Mohamad as saying to the Malaysian Insider that the theory of suicide is utter nonsense – “Saya sangat rapat dengan dia dan dia seorang yang rendah diri. Saya merasakan tuduhan SPRM ke atasnya mengarut. Jika benar, tunjukkan bukti. Cara mereka menyoal siasat dia tidak adil,” ( I am very close to him and he is a humble person. I feel MACC’s accusation is utter rubbish. It it is true, show proof.The way they investigated him is unjust),he said.
Another of his old friend, Ashaari Isa, also dismissed as utter rubbish to the MACC for saying that Ahmad Sarbani jumped off a building -“Itu yang SPRM mahu berkata, tetapi bagi mereka yang mengenali dia secara peribadi adalah mustahil!”(That is what MACC wants to say, but to those who know him personally, this is strange). Yet another friend and Customs Officer, Ridzuan said that it is totally illogical that Ahmad Sarbani could have committed suicide because he had always maintained his innocence – “Malam tadi dia panggil saya dan memberitahu saya bahawa dia sedang disoal siasat oleh SPRM. Dia berkata dia rasa tidak bersalah kerana tidak melakukan apa-apa kesalahan. Personaliti dan tingkah laku dia adalah bukti dia seorang yang kuat beriman”. (Last night he called and told me that he was being investigated by MACC. He said that he feels he is not wrong as he has not committed any offence. His personality and conduct show that he is a man of Faith.) There you have it, Ahmad Sarbani is a man of faith and Islam forbids suicide! So what more excuse MACC for this death?
IGP Ismail Omar Again: A Shameful Knee-Jerk Reaction
Yet, in a most shameful knee jerk reaction, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said that the deaths of Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed and Teoh Beng Hock should not be equated simply because both were found dead in the MACC premises. According to Ismail -“The facts of the two cases are different. We can’t conclude that something has gone wrong.” While his own officers are still investigating, he seem to have drawn his own conclusions. Shameful statement IGP!
The morale of his Police Force is almost decimated by MACC raids, his men have suffered victimisation by the MACC, the Director of CCID and 6 rank and file policemen have been charged by the MACC. And despite their acquittals, IGP Ismail Omar does not have the courage to lift their suspension or reinstate these innocent officers. What has he done to come to their defence or correct the errors of the past? Instead, here he is defending the MACC. Disgusting IGP!
We have two deaths at the hands of the MACC and IGP Ismail Omar does not think something has gone wrong? He is better off keeping his stupid mouth shut, at least until he gets his facts in order. So, let’s look at the facts. Are these two cases really different?
MACC’s credibility and reputation tarnished
Teoh was taken to the MACC Selangor office at Plaza Masalam on a hyped up investigation, interviewed throughout the night to the point of exhaustion, said to have been released at 3am and then said to have jumped off the building and died at 6am. Very conveniently, that meant that Teoh was no longer under MACC custody at the time of his death. So, MACC is not responsible.
Ahmad Sarbani was taken to the MACC KL Office at Jalan Cochrane on a hyped up MACC investigations against Customs Department for fleecing the government of tax revenue to the tune of RM 108 billion. According to the MACC official statement, he was released on Saturday April 2. Then on Wednesday April 6 at 8.26am, he came back “voluntarily” riding a kapchai motorbike to the MACC office “without an appointment”. The MACC IO did not yet have the chance to interview him further. An hour later, Ahmad Sarbani was found dead on the tarmac of a badminton court of the MACC building. Very conveniently, that meant that he was not yet under MACC custody at the time of his death. So, again MACC is not responsible.
But can we believe whatever the MACC says? Can the MACC claim to be accurate in their disclosures? Can the MACC be trusted to tell the truth? Can the MACC be believed at all?
But can we believe whatever the MACC says? Can the MACC claim to be accurate in their disclosures? Can the MACC be trusted to tell the truth? Can the MACC be believed at all? We need not go very far to know all that. In the TBH RCI, the Royal Commissioners were aghast to discover that:
a) MACC officers do not follow the law as stated in the MACC Act;
b) MACC officers do not have search warrants when conducting searches;
c) MACC officers do not issue written orders to request witnesses to come for statements but just force them to come;
d) MACC officers have more than one investigation diary with different contents;
e) MACC officers doctor their investigation diaries on the pretext of corroboration;
f) MACC officers do not record statement based on what is said by a witness;
g) MACC officers put words into witness’ and suspects’ mouth;
h) MACC officers do not know the difference between a witness and a suspect;
i) MACC officers think it is alright to frighten a witness so long as they get the answer that they want;
j) MACC officers consider the words of caution that statements are given “without inducement, threat or promise” as mere formalities and are devoid of meaning;
k) MACC officers do not know the distinction between interview and interrogation;
l) MACC officers watch pornography while interrogating and recording statements.
These weaknesses of the MACC have been admitted by its Deputy Chief Commissioner, Dato’ Shukri Abdul, at the TBH RCI. This laundry list can go on endlessly, but that should be enough for answering the question as to whether the MACC can be believed when they say anything at all. Thus, with all that the TBH RCI have found out about the MACC officers, can the MACC Director of Investigations, Datuk Mustafar Ali, be trusted when he gave the press statement that Ahmad Sarbani had come to the MACC office voluntarily and without appointment. Something does not sound right here. Can Malaysians be faulted for being cynical of the MACC’s statement and claim of innocence in Ahmad Sarbani’s death?
Nazri Aziz’s Statement
Thus, the statement by the Minister in the PM’s Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, that the MACC had not a clue that Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed was going to meet his untimely death yesterday was stating the obvious. In a really silly defence of the MACC Chief Commisioner, Dato’ Abu Kassim, Nazri said “The MACC doesn’t kill people. It investigates”.
Hello! Two people already died at the hands of the MACC in the two years of the MACC’s existence. That is one for every year – an impressive statistic indeed.
Sarawak Elections
It is also shameful that PM Najib on his election walk about campaign in Santubong, Sarawak had defended the MACC by saying that the MACC was doing its job – “But we must remember that what they are doing is still trying to save the country’s money. The government has fought long to cleanse the Customs.”
By that statement, PM Najib appears to have justified Ahmad Sarbani’s death as a cleansing exercise of the Royal Malaysian Customs. Instead of extending his condolence for the death of a public servant, the PM has shown a prejudiced mind. How unfair on the dead man and his family. How unfair on all the Customs officers who attended the funeral yesterday afternoon at Kota Damansara Muslim cemetery.That Sir, is prejudging the issue of Ahmad Sarbani’s guilt. That, Sir, shows you have been ill advised by your paid advisers. That Sir, will only anger the Customs officers who are already grieving the loss of their brother in blue whose grave is still moistly earthen red (tanah kubur masih basah). That Sir, may cost you the support of the Customs officers and other civil servants come GE 13. Until you realize the monster that the MACC has become, the systematic decimation of our public institutions will continue. That Sir, could be the downfall of your government.
Lest my friend Rosli Dahlan’s humiliation is forgotten
While I express my outrage (and those of other Malaysians) at this most recent incident, I should remind Dato’ Abu Kassim that the disgrace he and the MACC is suffering now may also be divine retribution for the humiliation that the MACC orchestrated against my friend lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, in October 2007.
In a report by Lydia Gomez of The New Straits Times dated October 13, 2007 captioned “ACA out to humiliate me, lawyer tells Sessions Court”, Rosli Dahlan spoke from the dock that his brutal arrest and being paraded in court one day before Hari Raya was the MACC’s way to humiliate him. Since then, Rosli had sued many officers of the MACC and the A-G’s Chambers for RM 50 million. On the day he was acquitted last December, Rosli made a short speech vowing that he will expose and hunt down these rogue elements in the government.
I applaud Rosli’s courage because I agree with him that too often the mainstream media has been unfair by sensationalizing adverse unverified stories and is party to conspiratory conduct with rogue elements in the government. The public perceives that the MACC and the MACC Act have been used as a tool of oppression and have been flagrantly manipulated to achieve certain objectives. I fully agree with Rosli’s closing statement that “Malaysians, must remain vigilant against elements that can turn this country from one governed by the Rule of Law to one that is enslaved by the Rule by Law.”
For now, I would like to just rid these Angels Of Death in the MACC!
Footnote: Teoh Beng Hock, Kugan and now Ahmad Sarbani lost their lives in strange and unexplained circumstances, all under the custody of the Malaysian authorities. Recently, my wife, Dr. Kamsiah and I were having our Mee Rebus at the halal stall in a Chinese Restuarant in Leboh Pasar Besar, Kuala Lumpur, opposite the Malaysian Bar Council Building.
At the entrance wall of Bar Council, we noticed two bantings, one read “In Memory of Teoh Beng Hock” and the other stated that between 2003-2007 some 6000-odd Malaysians (I cant recall the exact number) died while under custody of the Malaysian authorities. We were shocked.
I am now wondering, given all these strange happenings whether Malaysia is a Police State or a thriving democracy which upholds the Rule of Law (ref. Rukun Negara). But I have no doubt in my mind that–and to paraphrase William Shakespeare– there is something is rotten in the state of Malaysia. Fix it, Mr. Prime Minister, before the rot spreads and Malaysia will be in the state of terminal moral decay.
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