KUALA LUMPUR: The police and the government, sued by the wife of missing activist Amri Che Mat, have disputed the findings of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) in a High Court hearing of the suit.
Suhakam’s public inquiry on missing persons had concluded last year that Amri and Pastor Raymond Koh were victims of enforced disappearance, and that their disappearances were carried out by the state, namely the Special Branch.
However, in response to the suit by Amri’s wife, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, the police and the government contended that “Suhakam never mentioned that our investigations were lackadaisical or ineffective in their findings”.
They said Suhakam’s inquiry was conducted based on terms of reference provided to the government.
Norhayati named 17 individuals, the police, and the home ministry in her suit, seeking to hold them liable, directly or indirectly, for the failure to investigate Amri’s disappearance.
Among the 17 individuals named were former inspector-generals of police Khalid Abu Bakar and Mohamad Fuzi Harun, former home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former Perlis police chief Noor Mushar Mohd as well as Amri’s case investigating officer Khor Yi Shuen.
The police also denied Norhayati’s claim that they did not conduct a thorough investigation into the disappearance of Amri, adding that the progress was monitored by the Perlis CID from time to time.
“We took her statement on Dec 10, 2016 and from one Mohd Faisol Abd Rahman on Feb 7, 2017 as well as investigated one four-wheel drive vehicle stated in her report.
“We investigated Amri’s case as a ‘missing persons’ case as she (Norhayati) did not provide information to back up the claim that he was kidnapped. There was no ransom sought until today,” they said, adding she had filed a total of three police reports.
The police contended that they took all necessary action to probe Amri’s case, such as taking down Norhayati’s witness statement and searching for leads she had mentioned.
Besides that, police defended their presence in Amri’s house on Oct 10, 2015 with state mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, stating the mufti wanted to meet the activist. Norhayati alleged Asri was involved in Amri’s disappearance.
They stated that officers who tagged along with Asri were Wan Nasirudin Pawan Teh, Ab Rashid Ab Wahab, Azisman Alias and one Mushar.
Police asserted that they were there at the request of the mufti for security control.
“The meeting between Amri and Asri was cordial and they spoke about various issues in the state, including religious issues,” they said. - FMT
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