Follow task force’s recommendations on probe into missing pastor, wife tells govt

Suhakam had concluded that Pastor Raymond Koh was the victim of an enforced disappearance carried out by the state, specifically by the Special Branch. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: Raymond Koh’s wife has called for the government to implement the special task force’s recommendations for an independent investigation and royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the pastor’s disappearance.

Susanna Liew said if the government is truly “sincere and honest” in ensuring justice and preventing future disappearances, it should not say that the police will investigate the case again.

“The people know that if the police are again asked to investigate, we cannot expect anything different from what we have been told for more than seven years,” she said in a statement today.

Liew had taken issue with home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who reportedly said in a written parliamentary reply that police investigations into Koh’s and activist Amri Che Mat’s disappearance are ongoing.

Saifuddin said efforts to locate the victims and the suspects involved would not stop.

Liew, however, expressed deep disappointment with this claim, saying that the police have failed to take meaningful action despite clear evidence, including CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts.

“After more than seven years, the police seem to show no interest in obtaining justice for my husband or the families involved,” she said.

“We have provided evidence and yet there has been no meaningful progress. The people are not blind to this.”

Koh was abducted on Feb 13, 2017, by a group of men, with CCTV footage revealing at least three black vehicles involved in the abduction.

Suhakam held a public inquiry into the disappearance of Koh and Amri between 2017 and 2019, and concluded that they were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by the state, specifically by the Special Branch.

The special task force set up to look into Amri’s disappearance had concluded that the police were incompetent in handling the missing activist’s case.

Yesterday, Amri’s wife Norhayati Ariffin had also criticised Saifuddin over his statement in the Dewan Rakyat.

In a statement, she said the probe has been anything but prompt, impartial, or transparent, forcing Suhakam to step in because of the failure by police to hold an effective investigation.

Norhayati added she was sad that Amri’s fate and whereabouts were still a mystery eight years after his disappearance, and also expressed disappointment at the government’s failure to provide any semblance of justice.

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