Please release Pastor Koh, pleads wife
Amanah leaders join hundreds in candlelight vigil for Christian religious leader missing since mysterious abduction on Feb 13.
SHAH ALAM: About 300 people held a candlelight vigil in Seksyen 9, here, last night to pray for the safe return of pastor Raymond Koh, who was abducted in Petaling Jaya on Feb 13.
Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew Sow Yoke made an emotional appeal to his abductors to return Koh safely.
“Please, please release him. He’s a good man. He’s been helping the poor, the marginalised, the needy.
“He distributes food to the poor in KL. He helped those affected with HIV and he even started a football team for youths,” she pleaded tearfully.
Koh, 62, was abducted by a group of masked men in Kelana Jaya, less than 100 metres away from the police housing complex.
The organiser of last night’s vigil, pastor SM Yee, had planned to gather in front of the Selangor police headquarters, but was redirected by police to the vicinity of Plaza Masalam, where some 50 police officers and Light Strike Force personnel stood guard over the evening’s activities.
Yee said the crowd had gathered to demand answers as it has been 21 days since Koh was kidnapped.
“Three weeks have passed. He remains missing without a single communication from his abductors nor a major lead in police investigations.
“We are also concerned about public safety. This shows that anyone can be kidnapped in broad daylight.”
Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia Selangor chairman Norazmi Mat Noh said he was perplexed that such a crime could take place in the daytime.
“How could this have happened in broad daylight and why are the police silent over the matter?
“If it was an imam who had been abducted, I say the response would be swifter than this. But somehow, there’s no traction to this case at all.”
Parit Buntar MP Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who is also Amanah vice-president, suspects the abduction could be motivated by religion as Koh was involved in a raid by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department in 2011.
That same year, Koh received a death threat in the form of a live bullet which he reported to the police.
“I would be very concerned if it (the abduction) is related to religion. That would be even worse because you cannot take the law into your own hands.
“I offer my humble services to speak to Koh’s abductors.”
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Amanah president Mohamed Sabu, Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen, Selangor state assembly Speaker Hannah Yeoh, Damansara Utama assemblywoman Yeo Bee Yin and Seri Andalas assemblyman Xavier Jayakumar were also present.