KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Fifteen years after the 2009 death of Teoh Beng Hock in Shah Alam, the government has agreed to reopen the investigation into his death, promising a transparent and impartial process free from interference.

Teoh, a former journalist turned aide to former Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, died after being held for questioning overnight at the then Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

He had been called to provide information as a witness and not a suspect into a suspected corruption case.

In July 2011, a Royal Commission of Inquiry concluded that his death was a suicide.

However, in September 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that Teoh’s death from a fall was caused by “an unlawful act or acts by unknown individuals.”

Teoh’s family had long sought justice for his death, which occurred outside the Selangor office of anti-corruption investigators in 2009.

So who was Teoh Beng Hock, and why is his case being reopened after 15 years?

UKM graduate and a former journalist

Teoh, born in 1979 in Melaka, graduated from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and began his career as a journalist at Sin Chew Daily.

Following the general election in 2008, Teoh transitioned to a political role where he served as a political aide to DAP’s Ean Yong Hian Wah, the then Seri Kembangan state assemblyman and a member of the Selangor State Executive Council.

Timeline of events

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed October 29 to deliver a ruling on Teoh’s family’s application for a judicial review on his death.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/08/02/who-was-teoh-beng-hock-and-why-is-the-probe-into-his-death-being-reopened-15-years-later/145801