Pastor Raymond Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew, has asked the court to appoint a trustee to manage the monetary compensation ordered by the latter last month.
Liew’s lawyer Jerald Gomez and Michelle Wong confirmed the matter to Malaysiakini when contacted today, and said judge Su Tiang Joo will decide on the application on Dec 8.
They added that the application was filed on Nov 28 by Messrs Jerald Gomez & Associates, where Liew listed three options to be appointed as a trustee to hold the interest-bearing trust account until Koh’s whereabouts are identified or disclosed.
The options named in the application were the law firm PB Trustee Services Berhad, which was a subsidiary of Public Bank Group, or Amanah Raya Berhad.
“She also sought costs and other relief the court deemed fit,” said the lawyers.
RM10k per day until found
Separately, Jerald confirmed to Malaysiakini that the government has yet to pay the court-ordered compensation to date.
“There was no stay of execution filed that day, there was no (court) order to postpone these payments…
“Technically, they would have to pay the court-ordered amount. But there have been no payments to our clients until today,” he said.
Su, on Nov 5, ordered the government to pay RM10,000 per day to Koh, starting the day that he was abducted on Feb 13, 2017, until he is found or his whereabouts are identified.
The judge further awarded RM4 million in damages, RM1 million in aggravated damages for the prolonged delay in Koh’s discovery and another RM1 million for unconstitutional acts taken against the pastor by the defendants and that these compensations be paid into a trust fund.
Meanwhile, Liew, who is the second plaintiff in the case, was granted RM2 million in general and aggravated damages for mental distress, plus RM1 million in exemplary damages.
The order was made after finding that the government and the police were liable for the disappearance of Koh.
Apart from Koh, the same judge had also held the government and police liable for the disappearance of social activists Amri Che Mat and awarded Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin, RM2 million in general damages, RM1 million in exemplary damages, as well as RM14,457.52 in special damages and RM250,000 in costs.
The court ordered the authorities to reopen their investigation into these cases and report their progress to the attorney-general (AG) every two months.
The government’s counsels did not apply for a stay of execution against both court orders on the verdict day. However, AG Dusuki Mokhtar told Malaysiakini on Nov 6 that they are appealing against these decisions as well as filing to postpone the payments.
Abducted in broad daylight
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on Nov 10, confirmed that the police will comply with the court order by reopening the investigation into Koh and Amri’s disappearance.
Koh, 62, was abducted in broad daylight along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya while driving to a friend’s house. CCTV footage believed to have captured the incident showed at least 15 men and three black SUVs involved in the operation.
While Amri, an alleged Shia follower and proselytiser, vanished on Nov 24, 2016, in Kangar, Perlis. His wife had testified that on May 12, 2018, a Special Branch officer from Perlis, Shamzaini Daud, told her the division was responsible for the abduction.
In 2019, Suhakam concluded that both Koh and Amri were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by Special Branch members from Bukit Aman.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi later rejected Suhakam’s findings, denying that he had anything to do with the abductions during his tenure as home minister. - Mkini
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