(May 14): Finding justice for Teoh Beng Hock and charging those responsible for his death is more important than the RM600,000 won in damages in a negligence suit against Putrajaya, the family of the DAP aide said today.

After six years of court battles, the family said they were relieved that Putrajaya and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) admitted that they were liable for the death of the former Selangor political aide.

But they said it was not the money but that Putrajaya and MACC had taken responsibility for what had happened. The family were given RM600,000 in damages and RM60,000 in costs.

"We wish to state at the outset that to us, it is not the money which is of importance in this settlement but more the acceptance on part of the defendants that they are liable for the death of Teoh Beng Hock," they said in a statement today.

"We agreed to resolve this matter two days ago because the defendants finally acknowledged that they are responsible for the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

"After years of fighting, we now finally have an admission of liability. To us, this marks a huge victory."

Teoh's family sued 10 MACC officers, the MACC and Putrajaya for negligence and assault while he was held in their custody.

He fell to his death at the Selangor MACC office at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, after hours of interrogation by anti-graft officers into alleged corruption involving a state assemblyman.

The family's suit was filed in October 2012 and the defendants had counter-claimed that Teoh's death was caused by his own negligence.

On Tuesday, Putrajaya and MACC admitted negligence in Teoh's death and will have to pay his family RM600,000 in damages and RM60,000 in costs.

The family said that while some have opined that the award was low, they accepted the amount as it was according to the legal provisions applicable in Malaysia.

Teoh's family also stressed that although Putrajaya and MACC have admitted their negligence in the civil suit, their quest to seek justice for him has not ended.

"We have the judgment of the Court of Appeal and we will now focus on the police and demand that further investigations be conducted in the matter.

"We will not give up until those responsible for his death are charged and punished and justice is served for Teoh Beng Hock," they said, adding that they were grateful to the late Karpal Singh, Puchong MP Gobind Singh and their legal team for their work.

The High Court in 2011 upheld the coroner's open verdict in an inquest to determine Teoh's death. It held that 30-year-old Teoh had pre-fall injuries but said there was insufficient evidence to show that he was assaulted.

The Court of Appeal last September reversed the open verdict, and said it was not suicide but found "a person or persons were responsible for his death".

The MACC and the Attorney-General's Chambers had prior to that cleared the three anti-graft officers who had interrogated Teoh.

The three officers were found by a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh's death as having driven the aide to suicide because of "oppressive, prolonged and aggressive" questioning methods.

The police said they were re-investigating the case. – The Malaysian Insider