Amri’s wife says the government is not keen on uncovering the truth, while Raymond Koh’s wife says the authorities were attempting to cover up the truth.
The government is not interested in uncovering the truth behind the enforced disappearances of activist Amri Che Mat and pastor Raymond Koh, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin said today.
The wife of Amri said she had sent Putrajaya a letter of demand, seeking monetary compensation for the inaction of the police and for the ordeal the family was put through.
“I am disappointed that the government has ignored our letter (sent on May 31),” she was quoted as saying.
“We have not decided on our next course of action.”
She questioned the composition of the task force, half of whom are members of the police force.
Earlier, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Datuk Mah Weng Kwai told The Sun that the Home Ministry should go back to basics and not involve police officers in the investigations, as advised by Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Hamid Bador.
“The whole idea is to re-investigate the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat (based on allegations of complicity of the police). It is not another inquiry based on the same evidence,” he added.
He was commenting on the voluntary withdrawal of Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Noor from the recently formed special task force to investigate the forced disappearances of Koh and Amri.
Mokhtar is the former head of the legal division of the police force.
The task force is made up of six members. Apart from Mokhtar, the other ex-police officer is former Bukit Aman Integrity and Compliance Standard Department director Comm Datuk Zamri Yahya.
An earlier inquiry by Suhakam implicated the Special Branch at Bukit Aman in the disappearances of Koh and Amri. Suhakam had recommended further investigations into the role of the police in the case.
Meanwhile, the wife of missing Pastor Raymond Koh today asked why were the authorities using an extortion case linked to his abduction to put the search for her husband on hold.
Susanna Liew said the authorities were attempting to cover up the truth behind her husband’s disappearance.
She said this at a book launch in Petaling Jaya, citing the court case of 31-year-old Lam Chang Nam, who was charged with kidnapping Koh last year.
Liew was responding to Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement recently that a task force would start its probe into the disappearance of rights activists Amri Che Mat first.
Liew said since Lam had been exonerated of any involvement of the kidnapping, the only reason she could think of why the authorities would not search for husband yet was because “(they want to) stop us from discovering the truth”.
Lam was initially charged with extorting RM30,000 from Koh’s son, Jonathan, before the charge was changed to the abduction of Koh.
“I want my husband’s case to be investigated and not to be put on hold,” said Liew.
“Suhakam has clearly stated there is no sub judice when Lam’s case was used as a basis to prevent the inquiry from proceeding. So why is the home minister using this very same case as the basis to prevent the task force from investigating my husband’s disappearance?”
Speaking at the launch of a book on her husband’s disappearance, Where is Pastor Raymond Koh?, that was co-authored by Stephen Ng and former MCA politician Lee Hwa Beng, Liew said Muhyiddin’s explanation was “unjustified”.
“This is a miscarriage of justice and the family will be relentless in our fight for truth and justice. We want to see closure. It’s been too long,” she said as she demanded the task force to carry out simultaneous investigations into the two men’s disappearances.