Suhakam public inquiry into Pastor Koh’s disappearance to resume on Monday.
Susanna Liew’s husband was abducted two years ago when Barisan Nasional was in power and her hopes rose when Pakatan Harapan swept into power in May but the housewife is now dejected that not much attention is being given to her plight.
“The new government is dead set on fixing the country’s economic issues but what about the lives that have been taken away?” she told The Malaysian Insight.
“We feel that this is more important than money or properties because these are lives that are taken away. Our families and friends are affected.
“We understand the new government wants to solve 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and other financial scandals but citizens’ lives are involved here.”
She wants equal importance given to finding answers to the disappearance of Koh and three others who have been listed as missing more than two years ago.
“My husband has been missing for more than 500 days. We want a quick resolution to this issue. Their lives were taken away and we want to know why,” Liew said.
She was responding to the announcement that the Suhakam public inquiry into the disappearance of her husband, which was suspended in January, will resume on Monday.
“I’m glad they are finally resuming the inquiry and we can hopefully get some conclusions and then recommendations can be made to Parliament, the attorney-general and United Nations for further action.”
The inquiry into Koh’s disappearance will resume on Monday after it was suspended on January 16 when police said they had charged part-time Uber driver Lam Chang Nam with kidnapping the pastor.
Police used Section 12(3) of the Suhakam Act 1999, which states that if the subject of an inquiry is heard in the courts, the commission shall immediately cease the inquiry.
Liew hopes that when the inquiry resumes, the family will find answers to the questions they have raised on what had happened to the missing four.
“The families want to know who gave the order (for the abductions) and if there was a cover-up to protect the person who may be a highly placed government official.
“We understand it is hard to find out who exactly is responsible but from the inquiry, we can see that there is some collaboration between the religious bodies and the authorities.
“The families deserve to know what had happened to them.”
Koh was abducted in Petaling Jaya on February 13 last year by about 15 men in three black SUVs.
The abduction was caught on closed-circuit television cameras and described as a well-coordinated operation.
Last month, the panel heard that missing Perlis activists Amri Che Mat’s wife Norhayati Ariffin’s allegation that a police officer told her a special unit at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman was involved in her husband’s and Koh’s abductions.
Norhayati then lodged a police report naming the officer as Shamzaini Mohd Daud. Two days later, Shamzaini lodged a report denying everything she had said.
Amri was allegedly being investigated for spreading Shia teachings.
He went missing on November 24, 2016, and was believed to have been abducted by a group of people in four-wheel drives seen surrounding his car in Kg Padang Behor.
The Suhakam inquiry is chaired by Mah Weng Kwai and two other commissioners, Aishah Bidin and Dr Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleha.
The panel aims to determine whether Koh, Amri as well as the disappearance of two others, pastor Joshua and his wife Ruth Hilmy in 2016 are cases of enforced disappearance sanctioned by the state. – TMI
Related reports:
Jul 31, Cops Ordered to Probe Pastor Koh, Amri, Hilmy Cases
Jun 12, An Open Letter to the PM from the Wives of Amri and Raymond Koh
May 31, Special Branch Allegedly Took Amri and Raymond Koh
Mar 7, Lawyer: Resume Raymond Koh’s Inquiry
Jan 17, NGO Questions if Suspect Charged with Abducting Raymond Koh a “Scapegoat” to Block Suhakam Inquiry
Nov 14, Cop Claims No Footage of Koh’s Abduction As CCTVs Not Functioning
Nov 3, Inquiry Panel Visits Koh’s Abduction Site
Nov 2, Raymond Koh’s 63rd Birthday ‘Celebration’ at Day 4 of Inquiry
Oct 31, Ex-IGP Admits Lapses in Koh’s Investigation, Refuses to Answer Many Questions
Aug 31, Open Letter to IGP from Pastor Raymond Koh’s Wife
Jul 25, Raymond Koh Might Have Been Victim of Human Traffickers
Jun 26, Breakthrough in Raymond Koh’s Abduction Case
Jun 18, Calling for Information on Raymond Koh’s Abduction
May 24, Police Reveal Developments in Raymond Koh’s Case
Apr 12, Missing Persons: More Questions Than Answers
Mar 29, Activists Disappearing in Uncannily Similar Circumstances
Mar 20, Shut Your Bloody Mouth, IGP Tells Public
Mar 4, Mystery of the Missing Pastor Deepens