The suicide note purportedly written by Teoh Beng Hock will be re-examined to decipher certain words which had been cancelled out, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating Teoh's death decided today.
The commission, which reconvened briefly, allowed the May 11 application by Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) lawyer Datuk Seri Mohd Shafee Abdullah to re-analyse the alleged suicide note so that the cancelled out words could be read.
The note in question was discovered almost a year after Teoh was found dead on the fifth floor landing of the then-MACC office at Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, on July 16, 2009.
"When one looks at the suicide note, (the interpreter) was able to read what was very vigorously erased by the writer," said Shafee.
Shafee said the words could be made out when held up against a bright light.
"In the translation, made during the inquest last year, the cancelled out part read 'saya telah menyusahkan kamu' (I have caused you trouble)," said Shafee.
Teoh, a day before his death, had been called in to the MACC office to assist in investigations on alleged misuse of funds by his boss, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah.
Shafee said the cancelled words in the note were relevant to determine Teoh's state of mind before his death, assuming the note had been written by Teoh, and the cancellations were done by Teoh also.
Bar Council lawyer Christopher Leong objected to the methods used to determine the cancelled out words.
"Counsel (Shafee) had applied to have the note re-examined in the simplest way – by holding it up against a bright light. We do not object to further investigations but to the methods in which counsel is suggesting to re-examine the note."
To this, RCI chairman Tan Sri James Foong allowed Shafee's application but decided that it had to be done by reliable experts.
"We allow the request that the note be sent to a technician in the Chemistry Department to extract the cancelled or scratched out part.
"If it is legible and written in any other language beside Bahasa Malaysia, it will translated by an official interpreter. After which, it will be tendered to the commission," said Foong, adding that it should be done quickly.
Hearings from witnesses had ended May 10, with submissions set for May 25.
