Govt assures cooperation – Foong

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KUALA LUMPUR: The government has given its assurance that it will give its fullest cooperation to the commission of inquiry (CI) tasked with investigating the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, said the commission’s head Tan Sri James Foong Chen Yuen.

Foong, who chaired the CI’s first session at the Court Complex in Jalan Duta Court here today, said the commission also hoped that all other authorities and agencies and the parties involved in this matter would do the same.

“We shall begin this enquiry by first considering the right of the person or parties to be represented under Section 18 of the Commission of Enquiry Act 1950 and we shall hear any objections or views on the conduct of this enquiry by any party permitted to be represented and then decide on them thereon.

“Thereafter, we shall outline the course we intend to take in the conduct of this enquiry and then proceed with the enquiry,” he said in his opening address in the Teoh inquiry here.

He said the commission intended to sit in public at this particular venue (unless there is a need to visit certain locations) daily on every working day from 9am to 4.30pm until completion before April 25.

“As we aware that this venue is limited in size, we have installed a TV transmission link to a screen at the entrance of this court (on the third floor), so that who we cannot acco-mmodate can witness the proceedings there.

“Further, the entire enquiry will be recorded on disc. There will also be a media room where live transmission of the proceeding can be viewed,” he added.

Present at yesterday’s hearing were Beng Hock’s younger sister Lee Lan and mother Shuw Hor, who were accompanied by their lawyers Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo.

During the hearing, a total of 36 witnesses will be called including Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Negeri Sembilan director SAC Hishamuddin Hashim and three pathologists, who were called as witnesses in the coroner’s inquest into the death of Teoh namely Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim, Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar and Dr Shahidan Md Noor.

However, Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand will be only be called as a witness by the commission if Teoh’s family needs a statement from her. — Bernama