KUALA LUMPUR – Police have yet to conclude their investigations into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, over six years after they went missing.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this will carry on, pending further development into the cases.
“As such, I have no intention of commenting further on these cases to avoid interfering with the probe,” he said in a parliamentary reply.
Saifuddin further noted that the high court here has set June 6 to 8, and June 19 to 22 respectively as trial dates to hear civil suits filed by Koh and Amri’s families.
He was responding to RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH) on the update and result of the police investigation into Koh and Amri’s cases.
Amri, who founded non-governmental organisation Perlis Hope, went missing after leaving his home in Kangar at about 11.30pm on November 24, 2016, with his vehicle reportedly boxed in by unidentified individuals at the time.
Less than three months later, Koh was similarly reported missing, with CCTV footage along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya showing he was abducted by at least 15 individuals in three black SUVs while on his way to a friend’s house.
On April 3, 2019, the Human Rights Commission released its findings from its public inquiry into the cases, which concluded that both Koh and Amri were victims of enforced disappearance.
Panel chairman Datuk Mah Weng Kwai had said then based on deliberations in both cases, it found that individuals or groups operating with the support of state agents had been involved in the abductions.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was the home minister during the pair’s disappearances, had denied then playing any role in the case or issuing any such order to police. – The Vibes, April 9, 2023
