KUALA LUMPUR – The wife of missing Pastor Raymond Koh has issued an open letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, demanding the government to disclose the truth behind her husband's disappearance.
During a candlelight vigil to mark the fifth anniversary of the pastor’s abduction, Susanna Liew also called for the release of her husband, as well as social activist Amri Che Mat, who are both allegedly victims of enforced disappearances.
She also called for the perpetrators behind the abductions of Koh and Amri to be brought to justice in accordance with the country’s laws, and for the report of the special task force set up to probe the incidents to be made public.
“It has been five years or more since the above persons disappeared under similar circumstances. They have not been seen or heard from again,” she said, reading out the letter at the Council of Churches building in Petaling Jaya here yesterday evening.
“The families of these victims have undergone untold sufferings financially, physically, emotionally, and psychologically.
“They are frozen in grief and unable to move on because of uncertainties surrounding their loved ones’ whereabouts and well-being.”
Also present were Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim, Koh’s family lawyer Datuk Jerald Gomez, and writer Faizal Tehrani, who all gave speeches during the vigil.
Apart from Koh and Amri, the event also paid tribute to Pastor Joshua Hilmy, a Muslim-to-Christian convert, and his Indonesian wife Ruth Sitepu.
In late January, a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) panel was told that three missing people cases are possibly linked to one another, namely those involving Koh, Amri, Joshua, and Ruth.
Lawyer Philip Koh, who represented Joshua and Ruth, asserted this conclusion when submitting his closing statements at the Suhakam public inquiry aimed at establishing the facts and events leading up to the couple’s disappearance.
Phillip claimed that Amri’s abduction, which took place on November 24, 2016, is connected to the disappearance of Joshua and Ruth which took place just six days later on November 30, as well as Koh’s disappearance on February 13 the following year.
Koh’s abduction in Petaling Jaya was caught on closed-circuit television cameras. Koh was on his way to a friend's house when at least 15 men in three black SUVs stopped his vehicle and whisked him away to an unknown location.
The lawyer justified the supposed connection by pointing out how Awaludin Jaid, a retired Special Branch police officer, during a speech delivered at the Home Ministry on November 6, 2016, had branded Christian proselytisers, election watchdog Bersih, and proponents of Shia teachings as the “real enemies”.
Phillip noted how all three cases also had common features plaguing them, particularly how they were all embroiled in religious issues and had reportedly received prior threats or harassment before they went missing.
He said other commonalities include police’s lackadaisical attitude towards investigating these three cases, and how victims in all three cases went missing while driving, with their vehicles also missing since.
The lawyer asserted how the Christian missionary work of Raymond, as well as Joshua and Ruth’s, similar to Amri’s Shia teachings, had triggered the need for a “dark response” from authorities that led to their enforced disappearances.
At the event yesterday, Liew said the families of the missing people will not tolerate the inaction of the authorities, and will consistently demand justice.
“It’s been five long years, no news, no update from police, absolute silence. But the message is telling us very loudly that they are complicit,” she said.
“If he is martyred, I want to thank the Special Branch for giving him the privilege and honour to die as a martyr. If he is alive, our family will do whatever, everything that we can, to get him out.”
Liew said she was disillusioned with the justice system as people who do wrong can escape justice, while some are even being rewarded.
“But I am not giving up, I will fight to the end.” – The Vibes, February 14, 2022
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