SUSANNA Liew, wife of missing Pastor Raymond Koh, hopes that the lead police have obtained on her husband’s disappearance is genuine because all eyes are on the latest development in the case.

Police announced on Monday that they had charged a suspect with kidnapping in connection with Koh, who had not been heard of since he was abducted nearly a year ago.

“If the police are unable to prove that this is truly an authentic lead to my husband’s abduction, then I will be bringing this up with them again, and I will require proper answers.

“This is because I am Raymond’s wife and I have a right to know what has happened to him,” she said in a statement today.

Part-time driver Lam Chang Nam, from Taman Sri Ampang, Ipoh, was charged with kidnapping in the Petaling Jaya court on Monday.

Lam was arrested last year for attempting to extort RM30,000 from Koh’s son, Jonathan, but was cleared of involvement in the actual abduction of the pastor.

Liew said like everyone else, the family was surprised by the development and was curious to know what had caused police to change their minds.

She said she was disappointed that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) inquiry into her husband’s disappearance had come to an abrupt halt.

“I am disappointed that the police have resorted to doing this to interrupt the inquiry, and that they did not even attempt to inform me and my children of this so-called new development.

“This was the pattern with the the former inspector-general of police (Khalid Abu Bakar) last year, and I personally had hopes that with the new IGP (Fuzi Harun), things would change for the better.

“Still, I am grateful that at least the key witnesses have already testified at the inquiry. I hope that the (inquiry into) other cases will continue without any such disruption or interference so that the truth will come out.”

Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai, who is heading the public inquiry into Koh’s disappearance, had told the hearing that the commission was on Monday notified via a letter from the police that a suspect had been apprehended on January 12.

Suhakam subsequently decided to call a halt to the public inquiry after it was learnt that police had charged Lam with kidnapping.

The Suhakam panel aims to determine whether Koh’s abduction, as well as the disappearance of three others in 2016, were cases of enforced disappearances sanctioned by the state.

Liew hoped the police would immediately contact the family to arrange for a meeting.

“If this is truly a valid new lead, then we look forward to scrutinising the case and real answers from the police, who have now claimed that they have a strong enough case to charge Lam with kidnapping, which stopped the Suhakam inquiry,” she said.

Koh was abducted in Petaling Jaya on February 13 by about 15 balaclava-clad men in three black SUVs. The abduction, which took place during the day, appeared to be well-coordinated.

There has been no ransom demand or any communication from his kidnappers, suggesting that money was not the motive for the brazen act.

Lam was first arrested a month after Koh’s abduction. He was charged with extortion. Koh’s son, Jonathan was summoned to appear as a witness in this case at the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s court on November 30 last year.

Jonathan has been summoned again to appear as a witness in the same case next month. On both summonses, the case was cited under Section 285 of the Penal Code.

Lam’s lawyer Aaron Mark Pius said his client was charged in March last year with extortion and remanded for two weeks.

“We managed to get Lam out after paying bail of RM5,000. The trial for the extortion case began on November 30 where one witness was called.

“Last Friday, Lam’s family contacted me and said that he had been arrested again in Ipoh. He was then brought to the Petaling Jaya court where he was charged with abduction,” Pius told The Malaysian Insight.

Pius said he was stunned to learn of the new charge.

“It is shocking and we didn’t see it coming. Bail was granted at RM5,000 and Lam’s case will be mentioned on February 26.

“That’s when we can expect to get the evidence and documents for this new charge from the prosecutors,” he said. – January 17, 2018.