SUSANNA Liew, the wife of missing pastor Raymond Koh, today questioned the absence of women and non-Malays in the task force set up by the government to investigate the disappearance of her husband and Perlis Hope founder Amri Che Mat.

She said the lack of diverse representation in the panel runs counter to the spirit of muhibbah and does not reflect the multi-racial, multi-faith character of the country.

Liew also questioned Putrajaya’s failure to heed the suggestions of the two families of the missing men to include in the task force members of the Bar Council, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and a civil society group. 

She said having such people would allow for an independent, balanced, transparent and well-represented panel that will have the public’s trust.

Instead, to make matters worse, the government has appointed former and current police officers as members of the task force, she said in a statement this evening.

Liew and Amri’s wife, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, appeared particularly concerned over the inclusion of police legal affairs chief Mokhtar Mohd Noor in the task force. 

Mokhtar had represented the police in the public inquiry conducted by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) into the disappearance of the two activists.

Earlier, civil society group Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (CAGED) also raised concerns over Mokhtar’s inclusion.

“We are very concerned about the composition of this task force and how this impacts the independence and impartiality necessary for a credible investigation. 

“For instance, we note that Mokhtar is a member of this task force.

“This is the same division that was implicated in the flawed investigation into Amri’s abduction and later, in the team representing the police at the Suhakam inquiry,” said Norhayati.

“Mokhtar is clearly an interested party and so, this represents a conflict of interest.”

Liew said if a police officer who had been involved in the inquiry could be a member of the task force, then the lawyers who had represented the two families in the inquiry should also be included in the panel to ensure a fair and balanced probe.

“It is only when there is an independent, thorough and transparent investigation by this task force, that we get to the truth of the matter. Otherwise will the task force be another red herring?”

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced earlier today that the task force will be led by former high court judge Abdul Rahim Uda.

Besides Abdul Rahim and Mokhtar, the task force will comprise police integrity unit director Zamri Yahya, Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission operations director Muhammad Bukhari Ab Hamid, Attorney-General’s Chambers officer Mohd Sophia Zakaria and Police Commission secretary Mohd Russaini Idrus.

The  task force will first look into Amir’s case as there was still a case pending in the courts pertaining to Koh’s disappearance and any public discussion of the case will be sub judice.

The case is the trial of part-time driver Lam Chang Nam, 31, who was charged on January 16 last year with kidnapping Koh.

Liew, however, said sub judice must not be used as an excuse to thwart the investigators, and pressed the Home Ministry to investigate Koh and Amri’s cases together due to the similarities in the evidence and the way they were kidnapped, including the kidnappers’ use of similar vehicles and the same investigating officer being put in charge of both cases.

She said when more evidence had surfaced at the Suhakam inquiry showing police involvement in the abduction of Koh, the then inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun had ordered that the inquiry should be stopped.

“This stalled the Suhakam inquiry into Koh’s case until August 2018 when Suhakam resumed the inquiry.

Liew added that it has been more than two years since Lam has been charged and the case has yet to be concluded, hence, it should not be used as a reason to thwart investigations into the case.

The findings of the Suhakam inquiry put the police in a spot as it was alleged that the disappearance of both activists were cases of enforced disappearance carried out by the Special Branch from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

“The panel is of the considered view that the enforced disappearance of Amri was carried out by agents of the state, namely the Special Branch, Bukit Aman.

“The disappearance of pastor Raymond Koh was neither a case of voluntary disappearance nor a case of involuntary disappearance in breach of the ordinary criminal law.

“The directive and circumstantial evidence in Koh’s case also proves that he was abducted by the Special Branch,” the Suhakam panel had said in making public its findings after an 18-month inquiry. – June 26, 2019.