100 Days
after Raymond Koh’s abduction, wife calls for his release and justice
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia; 23 May 2017 – A hundred days after
the shocking abducion of her husband Raymond Koh, Mrs Susanna Liew has appealed
for Koh’s release and justice: “What my children and I want most of all is the
release of my husband, safe and sound; and for his abductors and their
accomplices to be brought to justice.”
Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted on a
residential street in Petaling Jaya by a large group of men in a convoy of
cars. According to an eyewitness to the 13th February abduction,
black SUV’s had surrounded the Honda Accord Koh was driving, while masked men
forcibly pulled Koh out of his car against his will and other abductors
directed traffic and filmed the abduction.
This eyewitness statement is corroborated
by residential security camera footage around the area, which captured the
entire abduction that took less than 60 seconds and reflected a professional
precision and efficiency not usually seen in conventional kidnappings in
Malaysia.
To date, Koh remains missing and the
identities of his abductors and their accomplices remain a mystery, despite the
abundance of evidence of the abduction itself and the fact that Koh’s
antagonists are well-known.
On 15th May 2017, the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) submitted a communication to
the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(WGEID) on behalf of Koh’s family. FIDH also submitted a similar communication
on behalf of Amri Che Mat, a social worker from Perlis, who is believed to have
been abducted on 24th November 2016.
“We helped Koh’s family to escalate
this to the UN WGEID after these 100 days of no answers and no action by the
authorities to account for such a shocking crime,” said Sevan Doraisamy,
Suaram’s executive director.
Suaram, a member organisation of FIDH,
has also joined the newly formed civil society coalition Citizen Action Group
on Enforced Disappearance (CAGED).
CAGED
spokesperson Thomas Fann added: “Of great concern are the police’s failure to
account for their startling lack of progress, the lack of transparency and the
lack of sincere efforts to regularly and informatively update the family. To
make matters worse, they seem to be exploiting the abduction to investigate and
potentially prosecute Raymond Koh and his family, friends and associates on
alleged offences unrelated to the crime against Koh.”
Fann was referring to the last public
remarks made by the police about their investigations. On 6th April
2017, the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted as telling
Malay newspaper Berita Harian that
investigations were focused on allegations that Koh had attempted to convert
two Muslim teenagers in Perlis in January 2017. Unnamed police sources also
confirmed to Berita Harian that Koh
and alleged unnamed associates were being investigated under Section 298A of
the Penal Code.
Susanna Liew concurred: “Despite public
speculation and suspicion against the authorities, up to 6th April,
I still appealed to Malaysians to give the police space to conduct their
investigations. However, this trust in them has been in vain. I was shocked and
disappointed when I read IGP Khalid’s words as quoted in Berita Harian. The victim is now being investigated? How will this
help find him and bring his abductors to justice?”
The actions and statements by the
police since the 13th February abduction have also raised concern
and questions among the Malaysian public, some of which have been reported in
the media.
Koh’s family members have become increasingly
concerned about this lack of commitment to a fair, transparent and accountable
investigation to secure Koh’s safe release and to bring his abductors and
accomplices to justice. As such, Koh’s family felt that they had no other
recourse except to appeal to other organisations for help, including escalating
Koh’s abduction to the UN as a suspected case of “enforced disappearance”.
“Do I think that Raymond could have
been taken by parties as defined by the UN? It is a difficult question to
answer, and not something to do casually. But based on the way the authorities
have behaved in the last 100 days, I cannot rule out the possibilty that people
in power are linked to this or know more than they are admitting,” said
Susanna, adding: “It is my duty to do all I can to find out what happened to
Raymond and to get him justice. I owe this to my husband and must ask the
difficult questions even if I risk retaliation against me by powerful men.”
Since Koh’s case was submitted to the
UN WGEID, the police have responded by summoning human rights activists who
have assisted Koh’s family in this. Sevan Doraisamy, Thomas Fann and Bersih
activist Rama Ramanathan have been summoned by the police for questioning on 24th
May, at 10am at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman. They are being
investigated under Section 505B of the Penal Code for making statements
allegedly conducing to ‘public mischief’.
In responding to this police summons,
Thomas Fann said: “We will show up as requested by the police. However, I would
think that in dealing with such a serious crime that has gone on for 100 days
with no progress, shouldn't the police be focusing on finding answers, instead
of harassing those who have raised questions?"
Concerned Christian pastors have also
launched a Pastoral Prayer initiative to unite Malaysians in awareness and
prayer for Koh, and others who have disappeared suspiciously since November
2016, namely Amri Che Mat, Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Sitepu. This
initiative has been endorsed by over 2,000 people since it was distributed over
social media on 18th May 2017. (Link
to this Pastoral Prayer: http://tinyurl.com/Justice4RayKoh.)
The above followed a media session held in Petaling Jaya on May 23
morning, where Susanna Liew, her daughters, advisors and CAGED representatives
spoke with Malaysian and international journalists. Below is Susanna’s opening
remarks at this session:
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