The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today apologised to a group of Ayah Pin's followers, a day after the watchdog body was accused of being prejudiced.

"The commission would like to apologise to those among Ayah Pin's followers who had come to our office but were made to feel unwelcome," said Suhakam complaints and public inquiry working group chairperson Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan.

Speaking from Suhakam's Kuching office, he said it was 'most unfortunate' the incident had occurred.

"We're really sorry that our officers had given the complainants the impression that Suhakam is prejudiced against them for being part of Ayah Pin's group. I will advise our officers to treat complainants with more respect and not be too opinionated. They must stick to the facts at hand."

Asked if he knew who the officers concerned were, he said he would get to the bottom of the matter when he returns to Kuala Lumpur later in the week.

The group, mostly based in Kuala Lumpur, had on July 27 filed formal complaints with Suhakam against Terengganu authorities for alleged human rights violations including unlawful arrests and detention.

They wanted a public inquiry and appealed for protection from further harassment.

'Complaints welcomed'

Prior to that, on July 12, a group of 21 Ayah Pin followers detained by the state religious affairs department had filed similar complaints with nine federal, legal and human rights bodies requesting an immediate probe. There has been no response from these organisations to date.

Yesterday, several of the complainants who turned up at the Suhakam office were upset by what they claimed were 'veiled prejudices' of Suhakam staff.

They said they were being pre-judged based on their links to Ayah Pin or Ariffin Mohammad, a 65 year-old who was declared a Muslim deviant in 1997.

Hamdan denied that Suhakam was indifferent to their plight.

"Before we can make any decision (on whether to conduct a public inquiry), we need to ascertain the facts in the complaints first," he said. "We spent at least 30 minutes on the issue during the commission meeting on Monday, and that is a lot of time for a particular matter.

"The fact that we have invited them (complainants) to give further details shows that we are taking their complaints seriously." He said Suhakam always welcomed complaints on human rights infringements. "It is our function to prevent human rights abuses," he said .

Fatwa violation charge

The Ayah Pin followers had also furnished photographs and personal accounts of their arrest, detention and the subsequent demolition of buildings and structures at their commune dubbed as the 'Sky Kingdom'.

A Terengganu fatwa prohibits Muslims from any involvement with Ayah Pin, at the risk of syariah criminal action.

Forty-five villagers from Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut, where Ariffin lived, are currently awaiting criminal trial by the Kuala Terengganu Syariah High Court on the charge of insulting the religious authorities by violating the fatwa.