KUALA LUMPUR – After being acquitted of kidnapping Pastor Raymond Koh, former e-hailing driver Lam Chang Nam still faces an extortion charge linked to Koh’s disappearance in 2017.
Lam’s lawyer, Aaron Mark Pius, told Malaysiakini that the Petaling Jaya magistrates’ court will, on April 30, decide if the prosecution has proven a prima facie case against Lam.
The acquittal was granted on February 8 before magistrate Nurshahira Abdul Salim.
The prosecution had applied to withdraw both charges via discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), which was granted on December 4, 2019.
Lam was recharged for the same offences last July 29.
On March 15, 2017, Lam was charged with extorting RM30,000 from Koh’s son after the pastor was kidnapped on February 13 the same year.
Suhakam had, in 2019, said that Koh was a victim of an enforced disappearance, with the perpetrators being members of the Special Branch from Bukit Aman. – The Vibes, February 25, 2021