To Latheefa: Pursue justice for Beng Hock

LETTER | Much has been said in public discourse over the appointment of Latheefa Koya as MACC chief. Whether one supports or opposes her rise to the position, it appears to me that both sides of the divide have valid opinions over which they base their argument on – be it from the point of view of the appointment’s legality or its transparency.

Nevertheless, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And in the local political scenery, it wouldn’t take too long to assess if Latheefa was brought in to improve MACC’s functioning, or whether she is part of the chess piece in the larger game of Malaysian politics.

Personally, I am of the opinion that one of the top priority issues for the new MACC chief would be to pursue justice for the unjust death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock, which happened under the watch of the MACC.

Soon, it would touch 10 long years since Teoh was found dead on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam. Will Latheefa, whom we all know has a reputation for fearlessness, even to the point of publicly admonishing her ex-party leaders over what she perceives to be their erroneous ways, be similarly driven to bring to book those who caused Teoh’s death?

One would be optimistic of a just resolution. Of course, there are many more big fishes to go after, as they say.

But I remain concerned that this current government will remain apathetic over this matter, as the previous government was. One of the reasons I have this doubt is due to our Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s seemingly dismissive response to Suhakam’s findings on the disappearance of social activist Amri Che Mat and pastor Raymond Koh.

This is the Mahathir we know; if I might offer a tongue-in-cheek response to Tian Chua’s letter, 'The Latheefa Koya I know'.

With this, I would hope Teoh’s colleagues in the DAP would also seek to ensure that justice is finally served. Surely, now that DAP is in the cabinet, and with Latheefa’s reputedly non-partisan fervour, the party would do better on this than the case of Indira Gandhi, whose plight, it appears, has now been confined to the bins of political expediency.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.