Ex-SB officer corrects testimony on Koh, Amri task force

Summary

• Former Special Branch principal assistant director Awaludin Jadid continues giving his testimony at the Kuala Lumpur High Court during proceedings for a civil suit by the family of Pastor Raymond Koh.

• He corrects his previous statement slamming the Home Ministry’s special task force that investigated the disappearances of Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, where he claimed they did not hear his side of the story.

• Awaludin says investigators interviewed him in 2019 but stressed that the task force should have summoned him to testify instead of relying on a written statement.

Retired police Special Branch (SB) senior officer Awaludin Jadid today corrected his testimony in court, after alleging a government special task force that investigated the disappearances of Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh did not hear his side of the story.

Awaludin, formerly the principal assistant director of SB’s Extremism Division, confirmed to the Kuala Lumpur High Court that a team of investigators appointed by the task force had interviewed him on Sept 23, 2019.

This came after lawyer Jerald Gomez, who acted on behalf of Koh’s family, pointed Awaludin to a report by the task force stating that his statement was taken at the Ampang district police headquarters.

“My statement was recorded. But the task force has never called me to testify,” said the former police commissioner, in response to a question by Gomez.

Awaludin was testifying as a witness in a civil suit filed by Koh’s family against the government over the pastor’s enforced disappearance in February 2017.

Yesterday, Awaludin in his testimony criticised the task force for not calling him to testify and present his side of the story.

He was referring to the report by the Home Ministry’s Special Task Force (STF) on the disappearance of Koh and Amri between late 2016 and early 2017. The report found that they may have been abducted by rogue cops.

He also described the task force, which consisted seven members led by former judge Abdul Rahim Uda, as “biased”.

However, Awaludin in his defence said the task force should have called him to appear before the panel to answer their questions, as opposed to relying on a statement taken by investigators.

“What I meant was that the special task force never called me (to give my explanation) like in the Suhakam (Human Rights Commission) inquiry.

“I was never called before the task force, that was my understanding. That is why I disagree with many of its findings, because it made assumptions without seeking my clarification about what I said in my ceramah,” Awaludin added later, when asked for clarification by senior federal counsel Nurul Farhana Khalid.

It was understood that the task force, in its final report, had referred to several speeches made by Awaludin in regards to the spread of Shia teachings and Christianity in Malaysia.

Suhakam’s report dismissed

During re-examination by the government lawyer, the former cop also dismissed Suhakam’s findings on the disappearance of Koh and Amri.

The human rights commission had concluded in 2019 that both men were victims of enforced disappearances, and the perpetrators were members of the Special Branch from police headquarters Bukit Aman.

Awaludin claimed Suhakam did not include some points he raised during the inquiry in their notes of proceedings.

“There were some explanations we gave that were not accounted for in its reports.

“Many things that we explained during the Suhakam inquiry that did not come out in its proceeding reports,” he said.

The trial before High Court judge Su Tiang Joo will resume on April 28, where the government’s legal team is expected to call more witnesses.

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