The wife of the missing pastor Raymond Koh has penned an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, making a personal plea for his intervention after the Court of Appeal upheld a stay order on her husband’s search.
In a five-page letter addressed to the premier, Susanna Liew said she was writing “with a heavy heart” and emphasised that time was of the essence in the search for her husband, who has been missing for nearly a decade.
“I write not as a litigant, but as a wife who has been left in unbearable uncertainty. I do not know where my husband is. I do not know if he is safe. I do not know if I will ever see him again,” she said.
The grieving wife added that every day the investigation is stalled increases the risk of crucial evidence being lost and further diminishes her family’s hopes of uncovering the truth behind Koh’s enforced disappearance.
“Every delay, every pause in investigations, feels like the door to that truth is slowly closing forever.
“It is not just the law that is at stake - it is my right to know what happened to my husband. It is my right to closure. It is my right to justice,” she wrote.
Koh, who went missing on Feb 13, 2017, was abducted by a group of men while driving along Jalan SS4B/10, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
A 2019 Suhakam inquiry concluded that Koh and social activist Amri Che Mat were victims of enforced disappearance perpetrated by the police’s Special Branch, though a Home Ministry investigation pointed fingers at rogue cops and thus did not meet the definition of “enforced disappearance”.
Liew filed a lawsuit on Feb 13, 2020, against 13 parties, including the government, the inspector-general of police, former IGPs Khalid Abu Bakar and Fuzi Harun, and several police officers.
On Nov 5 last year, High Court judge Su Tiang Joo found the defendants liable and ordered them to pay RM10,000 per day in damages from the date of Koh’s disappearance until he is found - a sum that exceeds RM38 million to date.
The court also ordered renewed investigations into Koh’s disappearance and periodical progress reports to the attorney-general every two months.
However, the payments and renewed investigations are on hold due to the High Court’s stay order, pending the outcome of an appeal against the Nov 5 decision.
Liew had challenged the stay order, but the Court of Appeal bench led by judge Alwi Abdul Wahab ruled two days ago that the High Court’s stay order should not be disturbed.
‘Why stay the investigation?’
In her letter to the prime minister, Liew questioned why the stay order had been granted in the first place, arguing that the High Court’s directive merely sought to ensure an independent and diligent investigation rather than determine anyone’s guilt.
She said she had always believed the judiciary would be “the final sanctuary for truth and justice” and had hoped the Court of Appeal would lift the stay.
Instead, she said, the ruling had brought to a standstill the very investigations ordered by the High Court, including periodic reporting to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, while giving those responsible more time as her family continued waiting for answers.
“What has caused me the greatest pain is that the stay was sought by parties who were themselves involved in the earlier investigative process, yet the consequence of that stay is that the renewed investigation ordered by the court has been prevented from taking place,” she said.
Years of failure
Besides recounting the exhaustive emotional toll the disappearance had taken on her over the years, Liew also devoted much of the letter to outlining what could be described as years of investigative failures.
She pointed out that Suhakam had concluded in 2019 that Koh had been abducted by Special Branch officers, while a cabinet-appointed Special Task Force later found that the disappearance was caused directly or indirectly by “irresponsible police officers”.
Following the findings, a fresh investigation and an independent inquiry were respectively recommended to probe the pastor’s disappearance; however, neither came to fruition.
“Despite the seriousness of these findings and the clarity of its recommendations, no such independent body was ever established, and no meaningful action followed,” she lamented.
Liew also questioned the effectiveness of efforts to locate key suspect Saiful Bahari Abdul Aziz, alleging he continued accessing government and financial services despite being sought by investigators, and argued that this pointed to shortcomings in the investigation.
Concluding her appeal, Liew implored Anwar to ensure the search for the truth continued with urgency and sincerity, saying the case was no longer simply about legal proceedings but about a family that had spent more than nine years searching for answers.
“Prime minister, I humbly plead for your intervention. Please do not allow this matter to fade into silence.
“Please ensure that the search for the truth continues with urgency and sincerity. For me, this is not a case file or a legal process - it is my life, my family, and my hope.” - Mkini
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