A CAR workshop owner told an inquiry into missing persons that police asked him to sign a blank piece of paper while giving his statement on activist Amri Che Mat.

JST Auto owner B.J. Vee Yak, 35 told the Malaysia Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) that the police officer (Inspector Muhammad Husyairi Musa) had asked him to sign the statement on October 16 last year.

“The police officer said that he was new to the case. Since I was busy as I had clients at my workshop he asked me to sign the blank paper to make things easier.

“He also audio recorded my statement and asked to include my identification number on the signed paper,” he said.

Vee was called by the inquiry to provide testimony on his statement to the police that he had seen several vehicles parked near Amri’s house a few days before he went missing.

Vee told the inquiry on November 4, 2017 that he went with Amri’s family lawyer, K. Muthiah, to the Kangar district police headquarters where he met Inspector Khor Yi Shuen, the investigating officer of Amri’s case.

“Inspector Khor then showed me a signed statement.

“I brought a lawyer because my Bahasa Malaysia is not good, and I needed someone to explain the statement to me,” he said.

Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai then questioned the police observers who were present at the inquiry on the blank paper.

He asked the police if it’s their standard operating procedure for police to hand out blank documents ( to be signed).

“The police observers are here can they explain (this issue)?” he said.

Police observer Sentul police chief R. Munusamy then presented a signed statement and ask Vee to verify the signature.

He said what Vee had signed was a prepared report, and not a blank piece of paper.

Munusamy then showed a report, complete with Vee’s statement and signature and asked him to confirm it.

Vee then confirmed that the signature was his, but he continued to claim that he was asked to sign a blank piece of paper.

Mah then asked Vee if what was recorded by police and the statement he gave is true, to which he replied yes.

Amri, 43, was abducted 550m from his home in Padang Behor, Kangar in Perlis in late 2016. Police later found his car in Bukit Chabang. He has four daughters, aged between 10 and 19.

The inquiry is chaired by Suhakam commissioners Mah, Aishah Bidin and Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh.

The panel aims to determine whether Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri’s abduction, as well as the disappearance of two others – Joshua and Ruth Hilmy – in 2016, are cases of enforced disappearance sanctioned by the state. – March 21, 2018.