Unconditional Release of Heavenly King

He was arrested in March 2004 under the Emergency Ordinance and was moved to the detention centre in May. He had been detained under the Emergency Ordinance on March 26 last year for allegedly being the leader of "Gang 21".

On Oct 19, the Federal Court ordered his release from the centre after he successfully obtained a habeas corpus order. But he supposedly refused to leave the centre as he was worried that he would be rearrested.

True enough, police re-arrested him when he emerged from the centre on 29th Oct. and was bundled off by a group of policemen waiting for him outside the Simpang Renggam detention centre.

“I have been in here for 17 months. What have I done wrong? I’m not afraid to be detained again. Who are the four heavenly kings? Who named them?” ex-Datuk, Tee Yam told the media people awaiting his release. He was also stripped of his datukship by the Sultan of Pahang for “tarnishing the image of the award”.

On 31st October, at 8.10pm, he was unconditionally released from police custody. He walked out of Bukit Aman a free man, 19 months after his arrest on suspicion of being an underworld kingpin.

Tee Yam, 48, appeared somewhat subdued, often holding the hand of his wife Chia Mee Sim. “My emotions are still unstable and I just want to rest for the moment before getting on with my business again,” he said when asked about his plans. Tee, believed to be worth millions has business interests in housing development, entertainment outlets, a computer company, a mineral water company and luxury car companies.

His latest detention under the Emergency Ordinance would have allowed the police to hold him for 60 days. But the police release him unconditionally?

Why? If he was re-arrested, there must be good reasons and prima facie evidence of criminal acts. Why a sudden about-turn? Did the police wrongfully re-arrest him or was he re-arrested out of vengeance? Or, alternatively, the police could not configure an indictable offence on him?

There was a stonewall silence from the police contingent. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Musa Hassan declined to speak about the release of a man alleged to be one of the four "heavenly kings" controlling the underworld in the country.

"No comment," was what Deputy IGP can say about Tee's unconditional release just only two days after being re-arrested upon being released from the detention centre.

Tee Yam's release was all the more interesting after his much-publicised re-arrest. He was collared by plain- clothes policemen in the presence of his lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, family members and the Press as he walked to freedom from the centre. His re-arrest prompted the question of mala fide (bad faith) on the part of the police, with Shafee saying he planned to cite Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar and the police for contempt of court.

Read my earlier article