Members of task force on Suhakam’s Special Branch claim to be named this week
Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin hopes to appoint them in a day or two, to look into the findings that Bukit Aman’s Special Branch was behind the disappearance of Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.
PUTRAJAYA: Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said he will, later this week, appoint the members of the special task force to investigate the conclusion of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that Bukit Aman’s Special Branch was behind the disappearance of two missing persons.
“I will appoint its members in one or two days… and their names will be announced later,” Muhyiddin told reporters on the sidelines of the immigration department’s Raya open house here.
“We will give their scope (terms of reference) or responsibility,” he said, adding that they would have six months to prepare their report.
On April 3, after inquiring into the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, Suhakam held that they were victims of “enforced disappearances”.
Koh was abducted on Feb 13, 2017, in Petaling Jaya, while Amri went missing on Nov 24, 2016, after leaving his Perlis home.
Koh had earlier been accused of proselytisation of Muslims, a claim strongly denied by his family. His abduction was caught on CCTV camera.
Amri was reportedly harassed over his alleged leaning towards Shia Islam, a school of thought which Malaysian Islamic authorities label as “deviant”.
Muhyiddin previously said several people had already been identified to lead the team, which would comprise six or seven individuals.
He said the task force would comprise police members as well, as they have the power to carry out investigations.
However, he said these police members would not be those directly involved with the case or those with a potential conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said he was in the dark over calls for the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to act against Umno for receiving money allegedly from 1MDB.
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He said he would leave the matter to the relevant authorities.