THE Suhakam public inquiry panel regretted that after its year-long probe into the missing activists, it could not trace the whereabouts of pastor Raymond Koh and Perlis Hope founder Amri Che Mat. 

When releasing the report on Wednesday, Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai apologised to both families. But before he could go on, the wives of the two activists broke down.

“My apology was an expression of regret. 

“I, too, nearly choked. It is not as though we had failed them, but seeing them in such a pitiful situation was too much,” Mah told The Malaysian Insight.

The Suhakam panel was unanimous that Special Branch abducted both men more than three years ago in commando-style operations.

Susanna Liew, Koh’s wife, said both she and Amri’s wife, Norhayati Ariffin, have been drawing strength from one other over the last three years to get through their ordeal of not knowing if their husbands were dead or alive.

“They came to us with high expectations. But in the end, we were not able to trace the whereabouts of the two activists,” Mah said. 

Liew and Norhayati had been hounding the authorities for answers ever since their husbands were abducted.

Given little hope and support by the police, the two turned to civil society groups who held nightly vigils, urging the authorities to provide answers.

Their vigils were taken to several states until Suhakam decided to act and set up the public inquiry.

Amri was abducted on November 24, 2016. It was revealed in the hearings that he was at the time under police surveillance for alleged Shia activities.

Koh was snatched on February 13, 2017. A police report was lodged against him a few months later for allegedly proselytising to young people. – April 8, 2019.