LKS's Ipperwash Inquiry argument crash further

The Royal Commision Inquiry argument by never practising lawyer, Lim Kit Siang was flatly rebutted by the Attorney General Chamber. The public inquest will began today and 77, including 24 from MACC will be called up.

Read yesterday's Malay Mail below:

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Ipperwash Inquiry unsuitable says AG

AG: Better to have Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death

Ayu Musa Kamal
Malay Mail, Tuesday, July 28th 2009

THE reference to the Ipperwash Inquiry by DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang is not a suitable comparison to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in Malaysia, concerning the investigation of the cause of death.

Attorney -General's Chambers, Head of the Prosecution Unit, Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah, when contacted yesterday, said under the Inquiries Act Canada, the Governor in Council can cause an inquiry into and concerning any matter connected with the good of the government or the conduct of any part of public business.

"It gives a wide scope for the body to inquire, as opposed to Section 2 of our Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950," said Tun Majid. "So the legal sanction is obviously poles apart," he added.

He also said that, according to the mandate in the Ipperwash Inquiry, it was clearly stated that the Commission shall perform its duties without expressing any conclusion or recommendation regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organisation.

"The Commission, in the conduct of its inquiry shall ensure that it does not interfere with any ongoing legal proceedings relating to these matters. However, under our Criminal Procedure Code, the magistrate can inquire when, where, how and after what manner the deceased came by his death and also whether any person is criminally concerned in the cause of death.

The magistrate can say that the death is caused by x (if known) or by a person unknown. But he cannot say whether any offence has been committed," Tun Majid said.

He added that Malaysia's RCI under the Commission of Enquiry Act cannot inquire into the death of a person as section 2 says, conduct of government officers and department or public welfare.

"Definition of welfare does not include death," he added. On Monday, Lim Kit Siang was quoted as saying that, there has not been a precedent in Malaysia for an RCI to investigate the cause of a person's death.

But he pointed out that it had been done in other countries, including Commonwealth countries.

Lim wrote in his blog that there were Commonwealth precedents of public inquiries into extraordinary deaths and cited the 2004 case of the Ipperwash Inquiry that was established by the provisional government of Ontario under the Public Inquiries Act to inquire into the death of Dudley George, who was shot in 1995 during a protest by First Nations representatives at Ipperwash Provincial Park.

The inquiry was mandated to make recommendations to prevent violence in similar circumstances in the future.

He said, recommendations made by the RCI should be implemented by the present government, failing which it will be considered an act of disrespect to the King. Lim, who questioned the independence, integrity as well as professionalism of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), thinks that an investigation should be done so that it will not be used to prosecute the Opposition.

Last week on Friday, Attorney- General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said it was only proper for a court of law to deal with Teoh Beng Hock's cause of death, which was why, he said, the government ordered an inquest to establish the cause of death.

The statement said the RCI is rightly and lawfully formed for the purpose of inquiring into the procedural aspects of the MACC in carrying out investigations.

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Read the information from the Attorney General office here that explain the definition, merits and technicality of a public inquest.

For face saving, give LKS a final say and then just ignore him.

With more revelations here and here from the mysterious blog t4tbh yesterday, slowly but surely LKS and DAP is losing the plot.

They desperately need to put up a "police brutality" accusation act for August 1st. Interesting and worrisome August 1st. All these happening in Shaaban just before Ramadhan.