‘Suhakam accepts hearsay evidence, Dr Mahathir’
KUALA LUMPUR: National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Mah Weng Kwai clarified that hearsay evidence from a public inquiry is acceptable since the inquiries done are not bound by Evidence Act 1950 which is used criminal and civil cases.
“It is important to understand and appreciate the nature of the proceedings. This is an inquiry, it was not a criminal trial, definitely not a civil trial,” he said.
“No one was in the dock and no one has been charged. We are hearing it as an inquiry under the powers of the Suhakam Act.
“In an inquest, the proper standard of proof is on balanced probabilities. In an inquiry such as ours, we adopt that standard on balanced probabilities,” he told a press conference.
The clarification came in response to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who brushed off Suhakam’s inquiry report that stated that the enforced disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat was due to the involvement of the Special Branch.
