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KUALA LUMPUR: The police and government, sued by the wife of the missing activist Amri Che Mat, have challenged the findings of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in a lawsuit hearing in the High Court.
Suhakam’s public inquiry into missing persons concluded last year that Amri and Pastor Raymond Koh were victims of enforced disappearance and that their disappearances were carried out by the state, that is, the Special Section.
However, in response to the lawsuit of Amri’s wife, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, the police and government argued that “Suhakam never mentioned that our investigations were indifferent or ineffective in their findings.”
They said the Suhakam investigation was conducted on the basis of the terms of reference provided to the government.
Norhayati named 17 people, the police and the Interior Ministry in its lawsuit, seeking to hold them responsible, directly or indirectly, for not investigating Amri’s disappearance.
Among the 17 people named were former Police Inspectors General Khalid Abu Bakar and Mohamad Fuzi Harun, former Interior Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former Perlis Police Chief Noor Mushar Mohd, and Amri’s investigative officer Khor Yi. Shuen.
Police also denied Norhayati’s claim that it did not carry out a comprehensive investigation into Amri’s disappearance, adding that the Perlis CID monitored progress from time to time.
“We took your statement on December 10, 2016, and that of Mohd Faisol Abd Rahman on February 7, 2017, as well as investigating a four-wheel drive vehicle indicated in your report.
“We investigated Amri’s case as a ‘missing persons’ case as she (Norhayati) did not provide information to support the claim that he was abducted. Until today no ransom has been requested, ”they said, adding that a total of three police complaints had been filed.
The police argued that they took all necessary steps to investigate Amri’s case, such as recording the statement from Norhayati’s witness and looking for clues that she had mentioned.
In addition to that, the police defended their presence at Amri’s home on October 10, 2015 with state mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, stating that the mufti wanted to meet the activist. Norhayati alleged that Asri was involved in Amri’s disappearance.
They claimed that the officers who accompanied Asri were Wan Nasirudin Pawan Teh, Ab Rashid Ab Wahab, Azisman Alias and Mushar.
The police claimed that they were there at the request of the mufti for the security check.
“The meeting between Amri and Asri was cordial and they discussed various issues in the state, including religious ones,” they said.
