FORMER Petaling Jaya councillor Peter Chong told a public inquiry today that he was imprisoned in Thailand by three men who denied being involved in the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh, but demanded that he cease organising candlelight vigils for Koh and three others who had gone missing.

Chong, who is the ninth witness to give evidence in the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) public inquiry into the missing Malaysians, said he believed his abductors were Malay, and that they claimed to belong to a group set on promoting Islam. 

“While the two asked me to stop the candlelight vigils, they disagreed with the abduction of Koh. They said that the abduction sent a negative message about Islam.”

Koh said he “felt cheated”, as he had received a text message in April instructing him to go to Hat Yai in Thailand for more information on Koh’s whereabouts.

The 54-year-old Chong said he had never met Koh but heard of his disappearance through church channels. 

He claimed that upon his arrived in Hat Yai on April 7 this year, he was abducted and brought to a room, where he was kept for about 10 days.

“I reached Thailand at 6am. I was then met by a motorcyclist, who handed me a note. The note said I was to follow the motorcyclist. So, I followed the person to a shoplot in Hat Yai town,” he told the panel.

Chong said he was led to the back of a restaurant and up a flight of stairs to a room on the first floor, where he was hooded before entering room. His hand phone was also confiscated. There were two other people in the room together with the motorcyclist.

He told the inquiry panel he was released on April 15 after he was driven to Pattaya by his two abductors, and dropped off at a construction site next to a beach. 

The men took his bag and gave him 20 baht (RM2.53) and a bottle of mineral water. 

Chong said he contacted his son and took a bus to Bangkok the following day before flying back to Kuala Lumpur. He did not lodge a report on his abduction in Thailand, as he was told he had to go to Hat Yai to do so, and he was not keen on returning there.

Malaysian police recorded his statement when he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and several days later he was asked to attend an identification parade at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters.

Chong, however, could not pick out his abductors from the three line-ups.

The Suhakam inquiry is setting out to determine if Koh’s disappearance and that of the other three Malaysians – Pastor Joshua Hilmy, his wife Ruth, and social activist Amri Che Mat – are cases of enforced disappearance, a term for abductions carried out with the authorisation or support of the state or a political organisation. – November 14, 2017.