Appeals court orders govt to produce report into Amri Che Mat’s disappearance

 

The Court of Appeal says it is entitled to read the task force’s report on the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat and decide if it can be released to his wife. (File pic)

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today ordered the government to produce the report of the special task force set up to look into the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat.

Justice Kamaludin Md Said, who chaired a three-member panel alongside Justices Azizul Azmi Adnan and Hashim Hamzah, said the court needed to examine the report and decide whether the contents would put national security at risk, as the government contends.

Kamaludin made the order during the government’s appeal against a High Court ruling which granted the report’s limited release to Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin.

He noted a previous Federal Court decision, which held that the courts are entitled to view a classified document.

Azizul also pointed out that the bench could read the document in camera, within the privacy of their chambers.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly, appearing for the government, said the report will only be made available for the judges, subject to the Official Secrets Act.

Hanir said the task force report remained a national secret, and the High Court was wrong to order its release, even in a limited fashion.

The appeals court fixed Dec 13 for case management.

On May 9, the High Court ordered the government to release the task force’s report to Norhayati so her lawyers could use it to cross-examine witnesses in her civil suit against the police and the government over Amri’s disappearance.

Norhayati and her lawyers were barred from disclosing the report to any third parties.

The government subsequently appealed.

Meanwhile, Norhayati’s lawyer, Surendra Ananth, told the court today the trial will continue on Feb 29 before the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Amri, the founder of the NGO Perlis Hope, left his home in Kangar at about 11.30pm on Nov 24, 2016. His car was found at a construction site at the Bukit Cabang Sports School early the next morning.

Between 2017 and 2019, Suhakam held a public inquiry into Amri’s disappearance.

In 2021, the human rights commission concluded that Amri was a victim of an enforced disappearance carried out by the state, specifically by the Special Branch.

In response, the home ministry established a task force to investigate Suhakam’s conclusions. It was given six months to complete its report.

Neither the ministry nor the task force has released the report despite repeated calls to do so by various parties, including Suhakam and other NGOs. - FMT