Kuala Lumpur: The High Court here today ordered the limited release of a special task force report that is classified as an official secret on the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat within 30 days.
However, judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said the report is only to be given to Amri’s wife, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin.
Norhayati is prohibited from sharing the report with any member of the public, except for her lawyers.
In 2019, Norhayati filed a civil suit against 21 parties, including the government and police, over her husband’s disappearance
She then filed for a judicial review last year to declassify the special task force report in question, to help her establish her case in the civil suit.
During the judicial review, the first respondent of the case — Home Ministry officer Mohd Russaini Idrus — said in a court filing that the report was classified as an official secret because it reveals the way police operate, which if divulged, could be taken advantage of by criminals.
To note, the second, and only other respondent in the judicial review was the government of Malaysia.
Wan Ahmad, when reading his judgment on the judicial review, said: “Having read the explanation by the first respondent, I do not find it to be watertight.”
“A general exertion that (special task force) report would allow criminals and enemies of the state to take advantage on police operations is insufficient.
“However, I am equally aware that the report is only relevant to the applicant in a pursuit to establish a case in suit number 79, and nothing more,” he said, referring to Norhayati’s civil suit regarding her husband.
“For that reason, I am making an order of limited release and disclosure of the report for the purpose of the trial in suit number 79,” he added.
Both respondents in the judicial review were represented by federal counsel Nor Aqilah Abdul Halim.
Meanwhile, Norhayati was represented by lawyer Surendra Ananth.
Surendra confirmed that Norhayati’s civil suit against the aforementioned 21 respondents, is set for case management before High Court judicial commissioner Su Tiang Joo on May 19 and will be heard later in June.
