SHAHIDAN Kassim has declined to comment on missing activist Amri Che Mat’s wife’s claim that the Umno minister and the Perlis mufti could have had a hand in her husband’s disappearance.

“I am reluctant to comment because I do not know the man and his wife,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told The Malaysian Insight.

Nur Hayati Ariffin earlier today told the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry panel that she suspected the state religious authorities, Perlis mufti Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim were responsible for Amri’s disappearance.

Amri was last seen by his wife and family on November 24, 2016.

Norhayati had said that before Amri went missing, he and the charity organisation he ran, Perlis Hope, had often been criticised by the Perlis mufti.

She said that in 2015, about 20 officials from the Perlis mufti’s department, including Asri himself, had raided Amri’s home.

Asri, meanwhile, has posted a response on his Facebook page to Norhayati’s allegations.

The mufti said Norhayati was blaming him for her husband’s disappearance because she was unhappy with the mufti’s previous social media posts.

Asri also showed the posts that had supposedly upset her, which were about the growing Shia influence in Perlis.

“Perlis Hope felt that right from the beginning, I had been against its charitable activities because they had made it look as though MAIPS (Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat Melayu Perlis) was not doing its work.

“Is that not the case?” Asri wrote.

“Read my posts where Perlis Hope had many times felt that I was unhappy with it. Read them well, “he said, referring to a joint statement issued on Facebook

Asri said more details would be forthcoming in response to Norhayati’s allegations. – January 22, 2018.