IT is now up to Putrajaya to show it has the political will to investigate the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, and bring closure to the families, said Koh’s wife.

Susanna Liew told The Malaysian Insight yesterday that while the families are thankful to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) for getting to the truth, there is still no closure for them.

“For us, closure means either being reunited with our husbands, or at least knowing what had happened to them.

“We want to know if they are still alive.”

Koh and Amri were abducted more than two years ago. Till today, there is no news on their whereabouts or what had happened to them.

After an 18-month public inquiry, Suhakam on Wednesday concluded that police’s Special Branch from Bukit Aman had abducted the men.

“If the government has the political will, they must expose those who are involved in these heinous crimes,” said Liew.

“While we applaud Suhakam’s findings, we are still sad that they could not get the answers that we want, one of which is, where are our husbands?”

She said she was not surprised when Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai announced the inquiry panel’s findings.

Koh’s family knew that police were involved after viewing the closed-circuit television camera footage of his abduction on February 13, 2017, she said.

The CCTV footage showed a group of about 15 armed, masked men blocking the pastor’s car with their SUVs, pulling him out and bundling him into another vehicle.

“The testimony from Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin, at the inquiry, that Bukit Aman was involved, further strengthened our belief that it was them,” said Liew.

“What they did was like an act of terror, to frighten everyone, when they should be upholding the law.”

Last year, the inquiry heard that Perlis Special Branch officer Shamzaini Mohd Daud had allegedly told Norhayati that a team from the federal police headquarters was responsible for the disappearance of her husband and Koh.

Shamzaini, later in his testimony, denied saying Bukit Aman was involved.

Families grateful

Though the inquiry found evidence that police were responsible, it could not ascertain what had happened to the two men or their whereabouts – something that Mah apologised for on Wednesday.

Liew said the families were touched and overcome by Suhakam’s findings and Mah’s apology.

“It was a difficult journey for all of us.

“They (Suhakam) could see our suffering. They could have done more, but cooperation from police was not there. Mah tried very hard to get it, but they were not cooperative.

“Although it is a victory for us that they came to a bold decision… closure is still not there.”

She also spoke about the remark she had made – “Are we now widows?” – after the findings were presented.

“It was brought about by our immense grief.

“We believe that they (Koh and Amri) are alive, and hope to see them. If a person is dead, then we can have a funeral.

“But, it’s difficult to say if they are dead because there are no bodies.” – April 6, 2019.