The Teoh Beng Hock inquest was today adjourned to next Thursday following an application by MACC lawyers for more time to prepare to cross-examine a witness who alleged he was tortured by the commission.
Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas granted the request by Abdul Razak Musa, who is holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
At the start of the inquest today, Abdul Razak said he was waiting for the medical report as well as original photographs of the victim after he was tortured.
"I have only been given the police report and print copies of the photographs showing the alleged injuries. I need the assistance and the opinion of experts with regard to the photographs.
"I do not have the original photographs. I have to determine whether the shade of colour on the body of the witness in the photograph is that caused by injuries or the tint of medicine applied at the hospital," said Abdul Razak.
Azmil said he agreed to the postponement to Sept 17 as the original photographs had to be produced, not just in the interests of the MACC but for everyone else.
Abdul Razak also said that the MACC was planning to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the Petaling Jaya High Court decision which had dismissed their leave application for a judicial review.
The application that was dismissed sought to prevent witness T Sivanesan, 22, from testifying at the inquest on the grounds that it had no relevance to the inquest and was merely aimed at tarnishing and smearing the MACC's image.
Sivanesan, who first took the stand on Wednesday, claimed that he was beaten with an iron rod and suffered injuries to his head, kidneys and genital area during an MACC interrogation in September last year.
Police visit confirmed
Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, appearing for teoh's family, however objected to the adjournment.
He said that the photographs tendered at the inquest were colour photocopies of the original. He also said that he would try to get the original photographs to be handed to the court next week.
Meanwhile on another matter, Gobind confirmed that the police had visited Sivanesan's house in Jenjarom last night.
Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas granted the request by Abdul Razak Musa, who is holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
At the start of the inquest today, Abdul Razak said he was waiting for the medical report as well as original photographs of the victim after he was tortured.
"I have only been given the police report and print copies of the photographs showing the alleged injuries. I need the assistance and the opinion of experts with regard to the photographs.
"I do not have the original photographs. I have to determine whether the shade of colour on the body of the witness in the photograph is that caused by injuries or the tint of medicine applied at the hospital," said Abdul Razak.
Azmil said he agreed to the postponement to Sept 17 as the original photographs had to be produced, not just in the interests of the MACC but for everyone else.
Abdul Razak also said that the MACC was planning to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the Petaling Jaya High Court decision which had dismissed their leave application for a judicial review.
The application that was dismissed sought to prevent witness T Sivanesan, 22, from testifying at the inquest on the grounds that it had no relevance to the inquest and was merely aimed at tarnishing and smearing the MACC's image.
Sivanesan, who first took the stand on Wednesday, claimed that he was beaten with an iron rod and suffered injuries to his head, kidneys and genital area during an MACC interrogation in September last year.
Police visit confirmed
Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, appearing for teoh's family, however objected to the adjournment.
He said that the photographs tendered at the inquest were colour photocopies of the original. He also said that he would try to get the original photographs to be handed to the court next week.
Meanwhile on another matter, Gobind confirmed that the police had visited Sivanesan's house in Jenjarom last night.
However, he refused to reveal more details, claiming that he doesn't know the real facts.
He said he was informed by Sivanesan by phone that some plainclothes police officers were looking for him (the witness).
"He was not there when the police went to his house. So I accompanied him to the Jejarom police station at about 11pm to check the situation," said Gobind.
He added that they didn't manage to see any police officers over the matter and left after about 15 minutes.
"We still don't know the reason for the police visit, so I don't want to comment much," he said.
Teoh, 30, political aide to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalamafter he had been questioned as a witness by officers of the MACC, located onthe 14th of the building in Shah Alam, in the investigation into alleged abuseof Selangor government allocations.
MK
11/09/09
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