Najib Under Fire over ‘flippant’ statement

SHAH ALAM: Klang MP Charles Santiago today hit out at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for being flippant over the death of Selangor Customs department assistant director, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed.

“What is the prime minister trying to explain?” he asked, adding that Najib was not serious about Ahmad Sabrani’s case.

Yesterday, Najib said that Ahmad Sarbani’s case was different from Teoh Beng Hock’s in that the latter was called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for questioning whereas the former showed himself up voluntarily at the MACC office in Kuala Lumpur.

Santiago was speaking to reporters at the MACC office here after meeting its director Jaafar Maahad to get more information about Ahmad Sarbani.

Also present were Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians Khalid Samad (Shah Alam), Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (Kota Raja) and M Manoharan (Teluk Intan).

Santiago also said that Pakatan generally supported the operation of the MACC in its fight against corruption, but the anti-graft agency has to bear responsibility for the death of Ahmad Sarbani.

“He died in the premises of the MACC. So, MACC has to answer for this tragedy,” he added.

Manoharan said that he would call for an emergency sitting of Parliament to discuss the procedures for an investigation of the MACC.

“What was the MACC doing? How did it let someone to fall to his death?” he asked, adding that as a lawyer, he has never come across a case where a victim has volunteered to provide information.

He also said the public wants answers from the government, especially regarding the mystery of the lost documents and Ahmad Sarbani’s mobile phone.

“Besides, people also want to know how is it possible for him to fall out of a small window.

“And why has the government refused to release the post-mortem report since the case is of public interest?” Manoharan asked.

  

Meanwhile, Khalid said the MPs visited the MACC headquarters here to obtain the latest information about Ahmad Sarbani’s case.

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“We expect the state to provide information to the people,” he said, adding that the parliamentarians also suggested to the MACC to install CCTVs in every corner of the office.

He said that a suspect must always be accompanied by a MACC officer during investigation in the future.

Khalid said that Pakatan expects the federal government to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe into Ahmad Sarbani’s incident.

Earlier, police blocked the roads leading to the MACC office after rumours spread that Pakatan supporters planned to hold a protest rally against the MACC.

Ahmad Sarbani was arrested in connection with a corruption offence earlier this month. He was released on bail after questioning.

However, he was found dead inside the premises of the KL MACC in Jalan Cochrane on Wednesday.