PETALING JAYA, Feb 12 — Suzanna Liew said she and her family will not rest until there was closure to the disappearance of her husband, Pastor Raymond Koh, six years ago today.
At the vigil held at the Council of Churches Malaysia in Petaling Jaya this evening to mark the sixth anniversary of his abduction, Liew said the years without answers have been an ordeal for her and her family.
“We do not have any updates; no news from the authorities and government.
“However, we still hold on to hope,” she said during her speech.
In the absence of resolution, Liew said held on to the belief she will be reunited with her husband one day, either in this world or the next.
At the same ceremony Koh’s daughter, Elizabeth, offered some insight on how the family has tried to cope, sharing lessons she learnt from her journey following her father’s abduction, likening the six years to the six strings of a guitar.
Her speech was a pre-recorded video filmed in the United States, where she is currently working.
According to Elizabeth, the first year represented emptiness to her, while the years afterwards 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.
“Going through the pain again. Going through the dark again and again and again,” she said, 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 close friend to the Koh family, credited Koh with her children’s good upbringing.
As a single mother who had to raise three children, she said Koh’s family provided a family setting through the church services held at their home.
He had left her with a legacy to care for the needy, underprivileged, and downtrodden, Sharmaine said.
“That’s what I remember most about him: You need to just go to him with a sob story and he will take out money and give it to you,” she shared to laughter from those gathered.
According to a musician who only gave his name as Gavin, Pastor Koh was a proud Malaysian who wanted to preserve the Malaysian identity in Christian worship and wrote many songs in Bahasa Malaysia.
“This is so that we didn’t have to use Bahasa Indonesia songs all the time,” he said.
Lawyer Datuk Jerald Gomez, who is representing Liew in the lawsuit she filed against 13 respondents including the government of Malaysia, was also present.
He urged those gathered to show up at the court hearings scheduled for June 5 to 8 in a show of support for the Koh family.
“Show the court that we have not forgotten Koh or his family. We remember and we stand together in solidarity,” he said.
Koh was abducted in broad daylight on the morning of February 13, 2017 along Jalan SS4B/10 in Kelana Jaya, Selangor while driving in his car from his house to his workplace. His car had been surrounded by seven vehicles and about 15 masked individuals, and he has been missing since then.
On February 11, 2020, Liew filed a lawsuit against 13 defendants, including former inspectors-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, and former principal assistant director of Special Branch’s Social Extremism Division Datuk Awaludin Jadid.
Others named in the lawsuit are former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Datuk Huzir Mohamed, Datuk Fadzil Ahmat who was previously Selangor state CID chief, police officers Supari Muhammad, Khor Yi Shuen, Hazril Kamis, Mohamad Shamzaini Mohd Daud, Saiful Bahari Abdul Aziz, the current Inspector General of Police, and the Royal Malaysia Police.
Liew's lawsuit claims that the police and government had violated her and her husband's rights in relation to Koh's unlawful abduction, failure to disclose his location, alleged misfeasance in public office, alleged conspiracy to injure and alleged negligence.
In her lawsuit, Liew is seeking several court orders including an order for the police and government to determine and disclose Koh's whereabouts, and an order for the police to arrest Saiful Bahari and bring him to court to give evidence on oath on his involvement or his vehicle's involvement in Koh's abduction.
On April 3, 2019, 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 Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.
