This came after Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin, revealed that the “raid”, where Perlis mufti Asri Zainal Abidin and 20 police and officials from the Perlis Islamic Religious Affairs Department had come to her house, was regarding Amri and his NGO Perlis Hope’s involvement with Shia Islam.
Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai had asked Norhayati to explain further regarding Amri’s involvement in the matter.
However, the family’s lawyer Philip Koh requested that the question be answered in private.
“Clearly this is an important question and the witness is choosing to answer this in private as this could expose her to threats from various organisations,” he said.
Mah assured Norhayati that she would be immune from any organisation’s actions regardless of her answer, as long as it was the truth.
However, Koh was not satisfied.
“Mr Chairman, how far can we be certain that such laws which would apply to the civil courts would also apply to the shariah courts and laws as well?
“We have no confidence that this will protect the witness and her family,” he said.
Following Koh’s explanation, Suhakam agreed to discuss the matter privately.