I witnessed the abduction of Amri Che Mat, witness tells Suhakam inquiry
20th Mar 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: A restaurant operator testified that he witnessed the abduction of social activist Amri Che Mat back in November 2016.
Syed Amri Syed Abdul Jalil, 24, said he was riding his motorcycle along Jalan Padang Behor in Kangar on Nov 24, 2016, when he saw several vehicles stopped on the opposite side of the dual-carriage road.
“I thought there was an accident. After the lights turned green, I slowed down to see what happened,” he told a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) inquiry on the disappearance of Amri on Tuesday (March 20).
Amri had gone out from his home in Kangar at about 11.30pm on Nov 24, 2016 in his SUV.
The inquiry is being held to investigate the disappearances of Amri Che Mat, Pastor Raymond Koh, Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu.
Amri, who co-founded Perlis Hope, went missing just 550m from his home.
Syed added that he had observed the vehicles when he stopped at traffic lights about 250m away.
He recalled there were several vehicles on the road that he believed were pickup trucks, but he was unsure of their make and colour.
Syed said that it was close to midnight at the time and there were no street lights, but said that the vehicles were in front of a tyre shop that had its lights on.
He said that he then drove past and told his father about it later.
The next day, his father’s friend told him about Amri’s disappearance and Syed repeated what he saw.
Two policemen then met Syed at his restaurant in the afternoon later to question him about the incident.
One week later, he met with another policeman at the Kangar district police headquarters over the same matter.
However, the police only took his official statement over the incident in January this year.
The Suhakam inquiry is held under Section 12(1) of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act.
Suhakam ceased the inquiry into Pastor Koh’s disappearance in January 2018 because a suspect had been charged in court in relation to the case.
Link to The Star article is found here at :
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/03/20/restaurant-operator-says-he-witnessed-abduction-of-activist-amri-che-mat/#zyFYaFBOH5ry60Hi.99