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KUALA LUMPUR – Three cases of missing persons here are possibly linked to one another, namely those involving Pastor Raymond Koh, Pastor Joshua Hilmy and wife Ruth Sitepu, and activist Amri Che Mat, a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) panel heard today.
Asserting this hypothesis was lawyer Philip Koh, representing Joshua and Ruth, when submitting his closing statements at the Suhakam public inquiry aimed at establishing the facts and events leading up to the couple’s disappearance.
Koh claimed Amri’s abduction, which took place on November 24, 2016, is connected to Joshua and Ruth’s disappearance that took place on November 30 just six days later, as well as Raymond’s disappearance on February 13 the following year.
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”.
Koh 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.
“The underlying link is the Special Branch’s extralegal and extrajudicial measures against the ‘real enemies of the state’, the category of which Pastor Raymond, Pastor Joshua and Ruth, and Amri all fall under in the eyes of Awaludin and/or the Special Branch.
“As such, it cannot be dismissed as a mere coincidence that immediately following Awaludin’s speech, each of these victims of enforced disappearance falls neatly within his categories of enemies that need to be dealt with,” Koh submitted.
No direct evidence to support theory of enforced disappearance: police rep
The police force’s representative, Ahmad Dzaffir Mohd Yussof, in submitting his closing arguments, insisted there was no direct evidence that could suggest Joshua and Ruth’s case was an enforced disappearance.
“Despite the family and lawyer’s claims, there is not one witness who testified – nor has it been raised during the entire process of this inquiry – that the missing persons were victims of an effect of an enforced disappearance,” said Dzaffir.
Adding on was Andrew Khoo, representing the Malaysian Bar, who recommended police to take quicker action when dealing with such cases, and that better standard operating procedures be implemented to ensure investigations into such pertinent cases are handled efficiently.
“To say investigations into this case were speedy would do injustice to the word itself.
“It can be said that the lack of urgency, the lack of curiosity from investigating officers, ultimately led to the lack of evidence established for this case,” Khoo added.
Today’s session for final oral submissions was chaired by former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, Sarawak Suhakam Commissioner Datuk Madeline Berma, and fellow commissioner Jerald Joseph.
The panel said that a date for them to present their findings and recommendations will be set at a later date, yet to be confirmed.
Joshua and Ruth were last seen leaving their Kg Tunku home in Petaling Jaya on that fateful November evening, following a seemingly hostile phone call Joshua received from an unknown caller minutes earlier.
The couple, who had previously complained of receiving threats for their missionary work, left their home that November 30 night and have been missing ever since. – The Vibes, January 20, 2022
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