Pastor Koh's family assisted police in probe, cop tells court

Free Malaysia Today

15-05-2025

Susanna Liew is suing the government, the police and several of their officers over the disappearance of her husband, Pastor Raymond Koh, on Feb 13, 2017.
KUALA LUMPUR : An investigating officer told the High Court here today that Pastor Raymond Koh's family fully cooperated with the police and provided assistance throughout the course of their investigation into his disappearance.
Supari Muhammad said Koh's son, Jonathan, had handed him a CCTV recording a few days after Feb 13, 2017, when Koh was said to have been abducted along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
'I was thankful for their help,' he said when testifying in a lawsuit filed by Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, against the police and the government over Koh's disappearance.
Supari is one of the defendants named in the suit.
Liew wants the authorities to be held liable for her husband's abduction and for misfeasance in public office.
Supari said his officers had tried to obtain CCTV footage from the residents of Jalan SS4B/10 on the day of the alleged abduction, but no one was willing to cooperate.
'It was hard for us (the police) but members of the public (like the Koh family) might have succeeded,' he said.
Supari also said he was assigned to the case on the date of the incident but was not able to ascertain if it was a kidnapping case.
He said he had informed his subordinate, Ali Asra Abu Bakar, to check if any authority or agency had conducted operations involving arrests that day.
'I found out the identity of the victim later that day after I obtained information from the owner of the car he was driving. The last signal from the victim's phone was detected around Taman Mayang,' She said.
Asked by Liew's lawyer, Steven Thiru, whether his officers had interviewed members of public around Taman Mayang to determine the presence of suspicious vehicles in the area, Supari said no statements were taken.
Steven: Did you and your officers hold any roadblocks (around the Taman Mayang area)?
Supari: No.
Supari said he received information about CCTV recordings taken from outside Koh's apartment a few days before the date of the incident.
He said the footage showed the presence of two suspicious vehicles parked outside, and that they would follow Koh whenever he left his house.
'When we checked the number plates, we found out that they were fake,' he said.
Police investigating Koh instead?
Supari said the police recorded a statement from Liew on the night of the incident which ran until the early hours of the morning.
He agreed that most of the questions they asked Liew were not related to Koh's abduction, but touched on the issue of proselytisation.
'We found out that the victim was active in religious activities and we wanted to know if he had enemies,' he said.
He also claimed that Liew had given 'excuses' for not answering the questions out to her.
He cited an event organised by Koh at Damansara Utama Methodist Church in 2011 which, he said, was attended by Muslims.
Steven: She was defensive because you were accusing him (of proselytisation)? Don't forget that her husband had been abducted (earlier that day).
Supari: I disagree, I just wanted to know if anyone hates him.
Steven: So did you manage to narrow down (the list of suspicious persons) in the end?
Supari: No.
The hearing before Justice Su Tiang Joo continues on May 27.