Resign, top cop told after SB implicated in enforced disappearances

Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who was Special Branch chief in February 2017.

PETALING JAYA: Rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) has called for the resignation of top cop Mohamad Fuzi Harun following the ruling by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that Bukit Aman’s Special Branch was behind the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Fuzi had been Special Branch chief when Koh was abducted in broad daylight by several men in February 2017.

“Now he is IGP. He needs to resign, and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin must also ensure that both he and former IGP Khalid Abu Bakar are investigated.

“Take all the culprits to court,” he told FMT.

Earlier today, Suhakam held that the Special Branch was responsible for the disappearance of Koh and Perlis-based activist Amri Che Mat, who went missing in late 2016.

Sevan called for an independent task force to investigate those involved in the disappearances as the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) has yet to be set up, adding that the government must ensure the return of both Koh and Amri.

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) meanwhile called for the immediate arrest of Khalid and former home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

In a statement, C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel agreed on the need to establish the IPCMC, which the government had vowed to set up.

Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearance spokesman Rama Ramanathan said they expect a response from Muhyiddin and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of religious affairs Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

“Both the police and the religious authorities were implicated in Perlis and Selangor (in the disappearances of Amri and Koh),” he told FMT.

He said the police officers named at the inquiry today were “fairly junior”, and that they wanted action against the more senior officers who had given them instructions.

“These people shouldn’t be allowed to get off scot-free.”

Koh was abducted from his car by a group of more than 10 men on Feb 13, 2017 with CCTV footage showing at least three black vehicles involved in the abduction.

Many speculated that his abduction might have been connected to his alleged attempts at spreading Christianity, although his family has dismissed such claims.

Amri, who co-founded an NGO called Perlis Hope, has been missing since Nov 24, 2016. His wife said five vehicles had blocked his car before he was whisked away, some 500 metres from their home in Bukit Chabang, Perlis.

There have been suggestions that Amri was targeted over his alleged leanings towards Shia Islam, the school of thought branded as “deviant” by Malaysian Islamic authorities. - FMT