KUCHING, Nov 9 — The Anglican Inter-Faith Commission (AIFC) has called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to direct the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling holding the government and police responsible for the enforced disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and social activist Amri Che Mat.
Its chairman, The Rt Rev Datuk Danald Jute, described the AGC’s intention to appeal as a “betrayal of the spirit of reform, compassion, trust and good governance promised by the Madani government.”
“For the AGC to do so is to choose legal technicality over moral accountability.
“It will only go on to show that the government is more concerned with shielding institutional impunity than with upholding truth and justice,” he said in a statement.
He urged the government to allow the landmark ruling delivered by the High Court on November 5 to stand “as a foundation for accountability”, to fully comply with the court’s order to reopen investigations with new and impartial officers, and to disclose all findings.
“All those responsible for their enforced disappearance must be held criminally accountable, whoever they might be,” he stressed.
Danald, who is the Anglican Bishop of Kuching (Sarawak & Brunei Darussalam), described the verdict, which found the government and police vicariously liable for Koh’s disappearance and for failing to properly investigate Amri’s case, as “a monumental vindication of truth and justice.”
“After nearly a decade of unrelenting pain, frustration and uncertainty, the judiciary has affirmed the findings of numerous inquiries, including by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), that these disappearances were not random acts but crimes of enforced disappearance involving state agents,” he said.
Danald also praised the court’s “moral courage” in recognising the cases as enforced disappearances and in ordering compensation and renewed investigations.
“The High Court has decided not only to award compensation — a necessary, albeit symbolic, acknowledgement of the families’ suffering — but has also issued a clear order to reopen investigations and ensure accountability.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice delayed is justice desecrated,” he said.
He said AIFC stands in solidarity with the families of Koh and Amri, expressing hope that the government would uphold truth and justice to ensure that “no one should ever have to live in fear in our beloved Malaysia.”
On November 5, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the government to pay nearly RM37 million to the family of Koh for enforced disappearance and over RM3 million to that of Amri for negligence in a police investigation.
Amri was abducted in Perlis around midnight on November 24, 2016, when his vehicle was surrounded by three cars and five men whereas Koh was abducted on February 13, 2017, in Selangor after his car was surrounded by seven vehicles and about 15 masked individuals.
In April 2019, Suhakam concluded that both men were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by the police’s Special Branch. — The Borneo Post
