KUALA LUMPUR: Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chief commissioner Mah Weng Kwai has ruled that the public inquiry into the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh will continue.
He said the decision was made after taking into consideration arguments and submissions from the police and the lawyers of the family.
“The panel concluded unanimously that the subject matter in court is not the same subject matter as the public inquiry.
“The panel has decided it will proceed with the inquiry,” he said at the Suhakam headquarters here today.
Mah said the Suhakam assisting officers had initially taken the position that the subject matter was the same, but later changed their view as well.
He said the panel had to deal with the subject matter of enforced disappearances to ensure justice, not only for Koh, but for his family members as well.
“The family has been continuously disappointed by the police authorities in the investigation into his disappearance.
“Where else or how else will they gain their right to remedy for a grievance allegedly caused by the state?”
Koh was abducted in broad daylight on Feb 13 last year. His abduction was caught on CCTV, which showed several men in balaclavas using black SUVs to block his car. He has not been seen since.
Police denied responsibility for his disappearance, but arrested a 31-year-old and charged him with kidnapping Koh. The charge meant that Suhakam’s inquiry into his disappearance could not be continued.
Earlier today, the wife of Perlis activist Amri Che Mat, who is also missing, claimed she had been told by a police informer that a team from Bukit Aman had taken both her husband and Koh.
Norhayati Mohd Ariffin said the police officer told her Koh had been taken because he “allegedly proselytised Muslims”.
In explosive twist, wife says Amri nabbed by same cops who took Pastor Koh