Asked by Teoh's family counsel Gobind Singh Deo why he did not mention the note earlier, when the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) officers involved in questioning Teoh were on the stand, Ahmad Nazri said he had wanted to do so when he was being cross-examined.
He also said he had handed over the document to his superiors.
The note, believed to have been written by Teoh just before his death, read: "Ou Yang, they have taken my computer without making copies of the documents. The target is all the while you. Sorry. Pretending to know but actually not knowing and consequently you have been dragged in. I said ‘mendapat lulusan YB' (got YB's permission), they insisted on typing 'mengikut arahan YB' (following YB's instructions). I can't help you. Apology. Sorry. I am very tired. Goodbye."
The existence of the note, which was among 30 personal items found in Teoh's sling back, was only revealed in August this year.
Earlier, he testified that he had asked his assistants not to include documents that were in Chinese or irrelevant stuff as exhibits when initial investigations were being carried out.
He also said he had assumed Teoh's note was something to do with his work as it had the words "Arahan YB" on it.
He said he found the note when inspecting the bag again on Oct 7 last year but could not remember if he had seen it earlier.
Ahmad Nazri said his assistants informed him the note was there when they checked the sling bag immediately after Teoh's death.
He also admitted that it was the Attorney-General's Chambers that had decided not to reveal the note earlier.
Asked if it was a cover up, Ahmad Nazri said he did not know.
He also denied Gobind's suggestion that the decision to tender the note was only decided after pathologists Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, Dr Shahidan Md Noor and Dr Peter Vanezis had said there were marks on Teoh's neck.
Teoh, 30, the political secretary to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 last year on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, after giving evidence at the office of the Selangor MACC, on the 14th Floor of the same building.
The inquest will continue on Oct 22 and Nov 4.
The contents of a controversial note ending with the words zai jian (which means either “goodbye” or “see you again” in Chinese) and said to be written by political aide Teoh Beng Hock were made public for the first time at the coroner’s court.
The note, written in Chinese with two phrases in Bahasa Malaysia on a piece of A4 paper, was tendered to coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas yesterday through investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal.
The note, purportedly written before his death, read: Ou Yang, They have taken my computer without making copies of the documents. The target is all the while you. Sorry. Pretending to know but actually not knowing and consequently you have been dragged in. I said “mendapat lulusan YB” (getting YB’s permission), they insisted on typing “mengikut arahan YB” (following YB’s instructions). I can’t help you. Apology. Sorry. I am very tired. Goodbye.
ASP Ahmad Nazri told the court that he found the note among Teoh’s belongings on July 17 last year.
He said a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer had shown him Teoh’s bag that was found on the sofa on the 14th floor of the MACC office in Plaza Masalam.
ASP Ahmad Nazri brought the bag to his office and began listing the items found in it on July 17.
He said he listed down the “important items” and left out the others.
He added that he also did not list down the note written on the white A4 size paper.
However, Teoh’s family lawyer Gobind Singh Deo questioned the authenticity of the note.
ASP Ahmad Nazri said the handwriting on the A4 paper note was compared with the Chinese handwriting on a voucher and notebook found in Teoh’s bag.
However, he did not know whose handwriting was on the voucher and notebook.
To a question by Gobind, ASP Ahmad Nazri said he did not verify the handwriting on the voucher and the notebook.
Gobind: Isn’t it important (to investigate the handwriting on the voucher and notebook)?
ASP Ahmad Nazri: Yes
Gobind: If it is important, why didn’t you certify the handwriting on the voucher and notebook?
ASP Ahmad Nazri: It did not cross my mind.
Court interpreter Ting Chin Kin, who translated the controversial note into Bahasa Malaysia, was questioned over certain words in the letter.
It was pointed out in court that the Chinese words zai jian in the note were translated as selamat tinggal (goodbye) in Bahasa Malaysia.
The ‘suicide note’ purportedly written by Teoh Beng Hock had apologised to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah for ‘giving him trouble.’
The document, addressed to Ean Yong, said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers kept targeting Ean Yong.
‘They, under the circumstance of not copying the documents from my computer, took away all the computers,’ it said.
‘They keep targeting you. Sorry. I do not know but pretended that I did. In the end I gave you trouble,” the Chinese-written note said.
‘I said “getting YB’s permission” but they typed as “following YB’s instructions.” ‘
The note ended saying ‘I failed to help you. I apologise. Sorry, I am very tired. Goodbye.’
Teoh, 30, the political secretary to Ean Yong, was found dead on July 16 last year on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, after giving evidence at the MACC office.
The note was tendered at the inquest Monday with investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal testifying that he found the note among Teoh's belongings on July 17 last year.
Court interpreter Tin Chin Kin, who translated the note from Mandarin to Malay, told the inquest that on Sept 4 she received a directive from the coroner to translate the note which was written on a piece of A4 paper, and had never divulged the information to anyone.
Asked by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, representing Teoh's family, whether she had experience in translation, Tin, 23, who started work nearly a year ago, replied, "No." Gobind disputed Tin's translation concerning the word "goodbye" and produced two dictionaries.
He then asked Tin to read the translation from the dictionaries, to which Tin said it meant "jumpa lagi (see you again)."
However, she said that searches on Google revealed that the word actually meant "goodbye" and that it could also be translated to "see you again."
