Its president, Ibrahim Ali, today demanded that the police question the inquiry’s witness ASP Supari Muhammad, who mentioned Perkasa in his testimony.
“I demand that Bukit Aman clear Perkasa’s name by questioning Supari,” he told a news conference at the NGO’s headquarters here.
FMT’s report on the inquiry proceedings on Nov 13 quoted Supari, the investigating officer in the abduction of Koh, as saying Perkasa might be relevant to the investigation of the pastor’s disappearance.
Supari made the remark in response to the Koh family’s lawyer Jerald Gomez, who referred to former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar’s statement that police would check on the possibility of extremism being connected with Koh’s abduction.
He also noted that Perkasa had consistently defended Naik.
Supari acknowledged to the inquiry panel that extremism could have played a part in Koh’s abduction, but admitted that neither Perkasa nor Naik had been probed by the police.
The public inquiry, conducted by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), is chaired by Suhakam commissioner and retired Court of Appeal judge Mah Weng Kwai. The panel includes Suhakam commissioners Prof Dr Aishah Bidin and Dr Nik Salida.
The inquiry will consider, among other things, whether the cases of Koh, activist Amri Che Mat, and Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth were enforced or involuntary disappearances as defined under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Koh, 62, was abducted from his car by a group of more than 10 men in a convoy of vehicles on Feb 13.
CCTV footage showed at least three black SUVs were involved in the abduction. Many speculated that his abduction may have been connected to his alleged attempts to spread Christianity, although his family has dismissed such claims.
Amri, 44, who co-founded charity organisation Perlis Hope, has been missing since Nov 24 last year.
His wife, Norhayati Ariffin, said witnesses saw five vehicles blocking the path of Amri’s car before he was whisked away, just 550 metres from their home in Bukit Chabang, Perlis.
Joshua and his wife, Ruth, meanwhile, were last seen on Nov 30 last year. A police report was lodged in Klang but the case was referred to Petaling Jaya police as the complainant said the missing persons lived in Kampung Tunku.
In a statement received by FMT yesterday, Perkasa and Naik said the reports linking them to Koh’s abduction gave a distorted and negative view of their image and reputation, alleging that they were involved in serious criminal acts.
Ibrahim also questioned the motive of the Koh family’s lawyer in making a reference to Perkasa in the pastor’s abduction.
He said Perkasa would not take legal action and, instead, would fight the allegation in the open.
“We will only resort to legal action if necessary,” he added.
“I can’t see what connection we have with the disappearance of Koh.”
He said that since Perkasa’s establishment nine years ago, the NGO had never caused disorder such as holding demonstrations.
Instead, it had always sponsored discourses and round table resolutions to seek consensus, he added.