Klang MP calls for probe on IGP over missing Koh, Amri
Calling it the most chilling news he has read in a while, Klang MP Charles Santiago denounced Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun for his alleged complicity in covering up the abductions of Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh.
Reacting to Suhakam’s conclusion that both Amri and Koh were victims of forced disappearance, he said this "officially makes the country a police state.”...
Calling it the most chilling news he has read in a while, Klang MP Charles Santiago denounced Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun for his alleged complicity in covering up the abductions of Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh.
Reacting to Suhakam’s conclusion that both Amri and Koh were victims of forced disappearance, he said this "officially makes the country a police state.”
In a statement today, Santiago expressed his horror at the Suhakam inquiry’s findings that concluded the perpetrators were members of the police Special Branch.
According to the International Criminal Court established under the Rome Statute, enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity, he said.
“It’s clear that the retiring police chief Fuzi was hiding information about the disappearance of Koh and Amri despite their families going through hope and despair,” he added.
Santiago (photo) noted on the growth of religious vigilantism and demanded that Fuzi face the full force of the law.
“This is heinous and Fuzi must be investigated for covering up this violation of human rights and crime under international human rights law. The government must also investigate all other police officers complicit in this crime and start declaring these cases as enforced disappearances.
“Fuzi must also come clean with the whereabouts of both men, and also Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Sitepu, who were abducted in November 2016,” he added.
The kidnappings have raised fears of religious vigilantism in the country as Hilmy, a Malay Muslim who converted to Christianity, had been suspected of attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, said Santiago.
“Amri was accused of spreading syiah Islam, an accusation denied by his wife, and Koh was investigated by Islamic authorities for attempting to convert Muslims when they hosted a party with Muslim attendees at a church.
“Abducting these people is a grave violation of police powers. The police have no right to place them outside the protection of the law and if needed should have charged them in an open court instead," he added.
Santiago stressed that it’s time to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) without any delay.
"The idea was mooted 14 years ago and does not need further deliberation or feedback as proposed by Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Suhakam’s report will further erode public perception of the police and rightfully so. And we, therefore, cannot allow the police to 'police' themselves anymore,” he said.
Santiago urged the government to start initiating the ratification process of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
He lauded Suhakam and all those who worked on the report, without fear or favour, to bring the perpetrators to justice and hopefully put an end to the misery of the families.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement later, PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan echoed Santiago's call for the establishment of IPCMC.
"Over the years, we have seen how the BN government has tried to do everything except implement the IPCMC. There have been many watered down versions of the IPCMC being introduced but they lack independence and power.
"With the outcome of the Suhakam public inquiry, it bares the shortcomings of police investigations in cases where they have a direct interest, or in cases where the police are protecting the interests of certain parties.
"PSM calls for the immediate implementation of the IPCMC and there is no more reason why it should be delayed any further," said Arutchelvan.
Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh called for Fuzi to resign, or be suspended, pending a probe into Suhakam's findings.
This is as Fuzi was the head of the Special Branch at the time of the abductions, he noted in a statement.
Independent investigations into the Special Branch cannot be free from suspicions of bias if Fuzi continues to helm the police force, said the DAP lawmaker.
"The new Pakatan Harapan government must demonstrate strong political will in handling the matter by first taking the necessary steps to suspend Fuzi in the event he does not resign and prioritizing efforts to secure the release of Pastor Koh and Amri.
"Those responsible must be held accountable and no stone left unturned in the investigations which must be immediately commenced."
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