Kedah PAS leader Yusof Husin claims former party member who accused him of misappropriation was expelled from PAS one year after making police report.
PETALING JAYA: A former PAS senator has denied accusations he misappropriated donations meant to help party supporters who suffered losses in the Kampung Memali incident three decades ago.
Muhamad Yusof Husin, who headed the Islahiah Diniah Madrasah, a religious school set up by Ibrahim Mahmud who was the target of a police operation in the incident, said investigations into the allegation made by a former PAS member tasked with managing the donations in the Memali Fund totalling more than RM1 million, found it to be baseless.
“Police from the commercial crimes unit spent two days sifting through the documents at the madrasah,” Yusof told FMT.
He was responding to claims by former PAS member Zainon Ismail, also known as CN Afghani, that he (Yusof) had misappropriated funds from the Memali Fund.
Yusof said Zainon lodged a police report on the matter in Baling in 2000, but he had not been called in for questioning.
Zainon said PAS leaders, including those who had left the party, should be prepared to answer if a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) was formed to review the incident that took place in November 1985 at Kampung Memali in Baling, Kedah.
Fourteen villagers and four policemen died in the incident when police tried to arrest Ibrahim for deviant teachings.
The Memali Fund was established in 1986 to help the families of the victims, who comprised mostly PAS members, and to pay for legal action against the government.
The tragedy came under the spotlight recently when Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister at the time of the incident, was questioned on it during the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum organised by the youth wing of his party PPBM.
‘All the money has been distributed,” Yusof said, adding that the police investigation found Zainon’s allegation was a lie.
“That means his police report was false. The party has investigated, and so have the police. There was no misappropriation.”
According to Yusof, he did not reveal the outcome of the police investigation to the public because “I didn’t want to blow up the case and embarrass anyone”.
Yesterday, former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who now leads Amanah, said all the money collected in the fund had been distributed to the victims’ families.
Yusof said all the donations were put together in the madrasah’s account.
“When I was released from detention under Operation Lallang three years after the Memali incident, there were people who approached me wanting to make direct contributions, so we created a fund under the madrasah together with the Memali Fund using a Bank Islam account.”
He said donations for the Memali victims and the madrasah were separated.
Yusof said donations collected for the madrasah account exceeded RM1 million but he could not give the exact amount.
In 2002, the then PAS president Fadzil Noor announced the winding up of the Memali Fund with the balance distributed to the families of the victims.
Yusof said the money was handed over personally by Azizan Abdul Razak, the then Kedah PAS commissioner.
Syarikat ‘Corak Memali’
Yusof, who was the former secretary of Kedah PAS, alleged Zainon had, without the knowledge of the party, formed a company named Corak Memali to collect donations for the Memali Fund.
He said the madrasah had received calls from people who complained that their contributions did not reach the intended recipients.
Subsequently, he said, PAS announced the company had no connection with the Memali Fund managed by the party.
“I have no intention of smearing anyone. I never spoke about it in the past but, since reporters are now asking, I feel it is time to put the record straight,” he said.
Zainon was expelled from PAS in 2001, a year after he made his police report.
In his book, titled “Air Mata di Bumi Memali” (Tears on the Ground of Memali), Zainon explained Corak Memali helped the widows of the Memali tragedy, in various ways, including in helping them to do some tailoring business.
Four years ago, Zainon questioned what happened to the RM65,000 which he claimed was still in the fund when PAS sacked him.
On the proposal to set up a RCI on the Memali incident, Yusof said he too supported it as it would be a credible investigation of what really happened, including what became of the Memali Fund. - FMT
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