DAP’s Teresa Kok today urged the Cabinet to ensure that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) limits its appeal against the High Court’s rulings on the enforced disappearances of a pastor and an activist to only the compensation awarded.
The Seputeh MP welcomed home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s announcement that the police would reopen investigations into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, but said that appealing the court’s rulings on liability would contradict this move.
“By appealing against liability, the government appears to be challenging the court’s factual and legal findings, which effectively implies that the police were right and the learned judge was wrong,” she said in a statement.
“This is inconsistent with the home minister’s announcement to reinvestigate the cases and raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to truth, transparency, and justice.”
Kok urged members of the Cabinet, who are expected to hold a meeting today, to discuss the matter and direct the AGC not to appeal the High Court’s decisions.
“At the most, if an appeal is strongly urged by the AGC, then it should only be on the quantum.”
Last week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the government and the police to pay Koh’s family RM37 million over the state’s involvement in his abduction.
It also ordered the government and the police to pay a sum of more than RM3 million to Amri’s family for their failure to conduct proper investigations into his disappearance.
In Koh’s case, Justice Su Tiang Joo held that one or more of the defendants, who are both current and former police officers, had been involved in Koh’s abduction and acted under orders eight years ago.
In Amri’s case, Su ruled that the government and the police had breached their statutory duties, and that their officers had acted unconstitutionally.
The AGC subsequently said that it would appeal the High Court’s decisions.
Koh was abducted on Feb 13, 2017 while driving along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya. During the trial, the court heard that five masked men in black military outfits had pulled him out of his car.
Amri, the founder of the NGO Perlis Hope, left his home at about 11.30pm on Nov 24, 2016. His car was found at a construction site at the Bukit Cabang Sports School in Perlis early the next morning.
