Witness denies he was coached by MACC

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KUALA LUMPUR: A witness denied yesterday that he had been taught by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers about what to say during his testimony at the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry investigating the death of a political aide, Teoh Beng Hock.

Mohd Khairuddin Denan, 56, a security guard at the Selangor MACC office, rejected the suggestion by lawyer Cheow Wee, representing the Bar Council, that he had been taught by MACC officers after he kept glancing at a typed note in front of him while giving his testimony.

Cheow then took the note and read it aloud in the Malay language to the panel members.

The note included phrases such as “Saya lihat dia baik (I saw that the person was okay)” and “Saya tidak dengar bunyi apa-apa ketika pelawat lalu di bahagian pentadbiran (I heard nothing when the visitor passed by the administration division).”

When asked by Cheow who had prepared the note, Mohd Khairuddin said: “I prepared it.”

Cheow: “You said you didn’t know how to use a computer.

“So who typed this note, because the sentence structure and the spelling are quite good?”

Mohd Khairuddin: “I typed this using a computer in my office. I can type a bit.”

Mohd Khairuddin also said that the scribbling “Yang Arif menyoal saya di luar bidang tugas saya. Saya pengawal keselamatan (You are asking about things beyond my jurisdiction. I’m a security guard.)” was his own and that it was not taught to him by anyone.

At the outset of yesterday’s proceedings, Mohd Khairuddin told the commission that he saw a Chinese man passing by the administrative division at the MACC office while he was in the lobby.

“I couldn’t see his face clearly but I was sure he was a Chinese man,” said Mohd Khairuddin, who was on duty at the office from 12 midnight to 8am on July 16, 2009, the day the political aide was found dead.

He also denied he made up his statement when he testified that he saw a Chinese man on that day.

Asked by Cheow why this had not been stated in his caution statement, which was taken several days after Teoh’s death, he said the police had not asked him about it. He also testified that he had not heard a quarrel when he was on duty at that time.

Teoh, 30, the political aide to Selangor’s executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009 in the 5th floor corridor of Plaza Masalam after giving his statement at the Selangor MACC office located on the 14th floor of the building.

The other members of the inquiry panel are former Appeals Court judge Datuk T S Nathan, Penang Hospital’s forensic consultant Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh, and dean of the Medical Faculty of Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences Prof Dr Mohamed Hatta Shaharom. The inquiry resumes on Monday. — Bernama