Christian pastor Raymond Koh (left) and Shia Muslim social activist Amri Che Mat went missing about six years ago. (Photo: Free Malaysia Today)
By UCA News reporter
Feb 15 2023
The National Human Rights Commission found security forces carried out the abduction of Pastor Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.
The family of Malaysian Anglican pastor Raymond Koh who went missing six years ago vowed not to rest until they find answers for his mysterious disappearance, the pastor’s wife said.
Koh’s wife Suzanna Liew and other family members attended a vigil at the Council of Churches Malaysia in Petaling Jaya on Feb. 12, to mark the sixth anniversary of his abduction, the Malay Mail reported.
“We do not have any updates; no news from the authorities and government,” Liew said in her speech. “However, we still hold on to hope.”
The case of Pastor Koh is one of several high-profile abduction cases in Malaysia in recent years. He was abducted after Islamic radical groups accused him of proselytizing among Muslims in Selangor state.
Liew said the ordeal since Koh’s disappearance has taken a toll on her and the family.
Despite no apparent progress on Koh’s disappearance, Liew said she holds on to the belief she will be reunited with her husband one day “either in this world or the next.”
In a pre-recorded video filmed in the United States, Koh’s daughter, Elizabeth, offered some insight into how the family has tried to cope, sharing lessons she learned from her journey following her father’s abduction, likening the six years to the six strings of a guitar.
Elizabeth said that the first year represented emptiness to her, while the years afterward were full of anxiety, doubt, growth, bravery, and endurance.
“The sixth year that starts this year, I want it to be the year of endurance — doing it again,” the Malay Mail quoted her in the report.
“Going through the pain again. Going through the dark again and again and again,” she added describing the agony and sorrow she has experienced since her father’s disappearance.
Friends of the family and church members also shared their testimonies of Pastor Koh.
Sharmaine Nathan, a single mother and family friend to the Koh family, credited Pastor Koh with her children’s good upbringing.
She said the Kohs provided a family setting through the church services held at their home, and the pastor had left her with a legacy to care for the needy, underprivileged, and downtrodden.
A musician identified only as Gavin said Pastor Koh was a proud Malaysian who wanted to preserve the Malaysian identity in Christian worship and wrote many songs in the local language–Bahasa Malaysia.
Lawyer Jerald Gomez, who is representing Liew in the lawsuit she filed, urged those gathered to show up at the court hearings scheduled from June 5-8 in a show of support for the Koh family.
“Show the court that we have not forgotten Pastor Koh or his family. We remember and we stand together in solidarity,” he said.
On Feb. 11, 2020, Liew filed a lawsuit against 13 defendants, including the government of Malaysia, the then inspectors-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, and the then principal assistant director of Special Branch’s Social Extremism Division, Datuk Awaludin Jadid.
Pastor Koh was reportedly abducted on the morning of Feb. 13, 2017, while driving his car from his house to his workplace in Kelana Jaya of Selangor state.
His car had been reportedly surrounded by seven vehicles and about 15 masked individuals, and he has been missing ever since.
Liew’s lawsuit claims that the police and government had violated her and her husband’s rights in their failures to stop the abduction and to disclose his location. Her suit also accused them of misfeasance in public office, conspiracy to injure and negligence.
On April 3, 2019, the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) concluded its public inquiry and made the findings that the government’s agents, namely the police’s Special Branch, had carried out the enforced disappearance of Pastor Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.
Amri Che Mat, a Shia Muslim social activist from Perlis state, went missing on Nov. 24, 2016.
Pastor Joshua Hilmy, a Malay Muslim who converted to Christianity, and his wife Ruth Sitepu, an Indonesian, also went missing in November 2016.
About 60 percent of Malaysia’s estimated 32 million citizens are Muslim, 20 percent Buddhist, and about 10 percent Christian, according to 2018 government estimates.
Religious minorities have complained in recent years about increasing hate speech by Islamist politicians and hardline groups against minorities including Christians. – UCA News
