KUALA LUMPUR – A special task force report on the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat is to be released to his wife Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, the high court here ruled today.
Malay Mail Online reported judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh’s decision, that only a “limited release” be allowed of the document, which is classified under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).
Wan Ahmad ordered the limited release to Norhayati within 30 days, with conditions that she is prohibited from sharing the report with anyone, other than her lawyers.
In July last year, the court allowed Norhayati to pursue her bid to declassify the special task force’s report on her husband’s disappearance on November 24, 2016.
Prior to her declassification bid, Norhayati in May 2021 had filed a discovery application to ask for the report to be shared with her. At the time, it was not known that the report was classified under OSA. This only came to light after Norhayati filed the discovery application.
The special task force under the purview of the Home Ministry was formed in 2019 following findings by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in its inquiry into Amri’s disappearance, concluding that his case was one of enforced abduction by state actors, namely the police’s special branch.
After the special task force was established to probe Suhakam’s findings, Norhayati also filed a civil suit against the government and police for failing to effectively investigate her husband’s disappearance.
To date, the government has yet to respond to calls by activists to have the special task force report made public.
Besides Amri’s disappearance, Suhakam had also held an inquiry into the disappearance of pastor Raymond Koh on February 13, 2017, and of another pastor Joshua Hilmy and his Indonesian wife Ruth Sitepu.
Like Amri’s case, Suhakam concluded that Koh’s disappearance was a case of enforced abduction by state agents, while in Hilmy and Ruth’s case, their religious activities likely made them victims of abduction but not by state actors. – The Vibes, May 9, 2023
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