Awaludin Jadid, who previously led the Special Branch’s social extremism division, told the High Court he only read the task force’s classified report for the first time today.
He was testifying at the trial of a suit brought by Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin, against the government, police and 19 others, including himself, over the conduct of the home ministry and police when investigating her husband’s disappearance in 2016.
The task force was established by the home ministry in 2019 to probe Suhakam’s conclusions following a public inquiry that Amri was the victim of an enforced disappearance carried out by the state, specifically the police’s Special Branch.
Under cross-examination, Awaludin said he was only familiar with the name of one of the seven task force members, identifying Zamri Yahya as a former director of Bukit Aman’s integrity and standards compliance department (JIPS).
Lawyer Surendra Ananth, appearing for Norhayati, listed several “unfavourable” findings made against Awaludin.
“The task force said you were one of the ‘persons of interest’ in Amri’s case.
“They said you held an ‘extreme’ view against Shia (Islam) because of your speech (at a 2016 closed-door ceramah).
“It was as if you had a personal agenda against Shia (Muslims) and wanted to eliminate them,” he said.
The lawyer also pointed out that the task force had questioned why Awaludin would need to pay a “courtesy visit” to Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin to explain the purported threat posed by Shia Islam followers, including Amri.
Asked by Surendra whether he was ever investigated over the contents of the report, Awaludin replied in the negative.
‘Courtesy call’
Earlier today, Awaludin told the court that he and several officers under his charge visited Asri at the latter’s office sometime in October 2016.
He said the “courtesy call” was to explain matters relating to security in the state to the Perlis mufti.
“We were concerned about terrorism (matters) because it is the border state with Thailand. If we do not curb ‘extremism’, it will turn into terrorism,” said Awaludin.
Surendra: Have you done any other courtesy calls to muftis from other states?
Awaludin: No.
Awaludin also told the court he was aware of a police report filed by Norhayati in 2018 which implicated him as the person who “instructed” the Special Branch’s officers to take Amri away.
“To me, her report was ‘false’. I don’t know why she lodged it,” he said, adding that no statement was taken from him.
The hearing continues before Justice Su Tiang Joo.