Ambiga Sreenevasan, Ramkarpal Singh and Lim Wei Jiet said the government must be fully transparent about the investigation into Teoh’s death.
The lawyers added that the family deserved to know why the Attorney-General’s Chambers had rejected the police investigation papers eight times, as disclosed during a judicial review in November last year.
“If there is nothing to hide from public scrutiny, the police investigation papers should be made public,” they said in a joint statement.
The lawyers also expressed disappointment with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his silence on the probe being classified as requiring no further action (NFA) in May, citing his past calls for justice and fairness for Teoh.
In August last year, Anwar promised a fresh investigation into Teoh’s death following a meeting with the family. He later said the government had agreed for the police to reopen the probe, and that it would be conducted transparently and without interference.
On Nov 21 last year, the High Court directed police to complete their long-delayed investigation into Teoh’s death.
Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh noted that police had launched an investigation in 2019 under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement.
The court also revealed that the investigation papers under Section 342 were sent back and forth eight times between the police and public prosecutor before the case was eventually classified as NFA in May this year.
Teoh, an aide to then Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead in July 2009 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after he had arrived for questioning at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office.
An inquest initially returned an open verdict. However, in 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that his death was caused by “one or more unknown persons”, including MACC officers.
Two special investigation teams were set up in 2011 and 2015 to probe Teoh’s death, but both were also classified as NFA by the public prosecutor.