This conclusion of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is contained in a 124-page report of the five-member panel headed by Federal Court Judge Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced on Jan 26 the setting up of the RCI to, among others, determine the cause of Teoh's death after the Shah Alam Coroner's Court delivered an open verdict following an inquest.
Teoh, 30, the political secretary to Selangor State Executive Councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, Selangor, on July 16, 2009, after giving a statement at the Selangor MACC office located on the 14th floor of the same building.
The RCI sat for 50 days, from Feb 14 to May 10, and heard the testimony of 70 witnesses at the New Civil High Court (NCVC) at the Court Complex, here.
The RCI, in its report, established that Teoh committed suicide following an aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation session.
It also found that MACC officers had no intention and reason to kill Teoh, and had only questioned him to obtain a confession so that Teoh could become a witness in the case of alleged irregularities involving Ean.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, at a news conference on the RCI report at the Parliament lobby, said the RCI concluded that Teoh had committed suicide as he felt oppressed by the aggressive and relentless interrogation, coupled with his weakness of character.
He said the fact of suicide was supported by the testimonies three experts of forensic psychiatry, namely Professor of Forensic Psychiatry Paul Edward Mullen of Monash University, Australia, who was engaged by the Bar Council of Malaysia, as well as Dr Badi'ah Yahya and Dr Nor Hayati Ali.
Nazri said these experts concluded that the aggressive and relentless interrogation resulted in Teoh experiencing a change in his state of mind, transforming him from being in the low-risk group for suicide into the high-risk group.
As such, Teoh Beng Hock was not killed," he said.
According to the report, the probability that Teoh took his own life was looked at from the angle of his character and change in his state of mind as a result of what he went through on July 15 and 16, 2009.
Besides enquiring into the death of Teoh and the circumstances surrounding and contributing to his death, the RCI was also required to enquire whether or not there was any impropriety in the conduct of the examination of Teoh in the course of an investigation by the MACC in relation to its standing orders and practices and to recommend any appropriate action, where necessary.
Nazri said the RCI found that three investigating officers had used relentless, aggressive and inappropriate tactics of interrogation on Teoh, which were found to have violated the standard operating procedure.
The report stated that the officers, Hishamuddin Hashim, Mohd Anuar Ismail and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus, probably undertook intensive interrogation on Teoh to force him to make a statement that it was Ean Yong who had instructed him to act contrary to the law in handling the allocation.
The report said the session would have put Teoh under physical and mental duress as he had been denied sleep overnight, and that the fourth interrogation must have been the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Nazri said the RCI proposed that the MACC improve several aspects, including in terms of entry qualifications and training of officers, infrastructure and basic office facilities as well as review existing procedures to make them more effective.
The report contained the unanimous decisions of the five-member panel headed by Foong.
The four other members were former Federal Court Judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk T.S.Nathan, Penang Hospital Forensic Pathologist Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh and forensic psychiatrist and Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University College of Medical Sciences, Cyberjaya, Professor Dr Mohamed Hatta Shaharom.
The report will be sold to the public from tomorrow at RM45 a copy at the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department.
Nazri said Teoh's family could take any legal action if they were not satisfied with the report of the RCI.
"This is a free country. We can consider any request. Furthermore, the RCI was set up on public request," he said.
Apart from that, the Commission also proposed that regulations of MACC be amended to prevent abuse of power, misinterpretation of laws, provide protection to witnessES and also a more balanced approach in the fight against corruption.
Among the proposals was to drop Section 5 (6) of the MACC Act which enables the authority of the deputy public prosecutor to be given to MACC head.
He said the mixing of authorities of police investigation and prosecution in the hands of MACC could lead to abuse of authority and corruption.
"A system of check and balance should be in place to prevent any abuse of power," he said.
Also suggested was a standard operating procedure to explain clearly the authority to search and confiscate without warrant or authorization from the prosecution could only be carried out in grave situations.
Touching on investigation interview standardd, the Commission also called on MACC to implement the "PEACE" interview model based on Planning and Preparation, Engage and Explain, Account (clarify and challenge), Closure and Evaluation.
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