Pastor Koh, Amri's ‘abductions' similar, cop tells court

Free Malaysia Today

27-05-2025

Susanna Liew is suing the police and the government over the disappearance of her husband, Pastor Raymond Koh in 2017. KUALA LUMPUR : The investigating officer probing Pastor Raymond Koh's disappearance told the High Court that the circumstances of his alleged abduction were similar to those surrounding another missing activist, Amri Che Mat.
Supari Muhammad agreed that windshields of the vehicles used by both activists had been smashed, and that a group of individuals had alighted from several sports utility vehicles to drag them out of their cars.
He said both operations took less than a minute each.
He also admitted that Koh and Amri were both founders of their respective NGOs, and that their abductions took place in public areas.
Amri , who founded Perlis Hope, had left his home in Kangar at about 11.30pm on Nov 24, 2016. His car was found at a construction site near the Bukit Cabang Sports School early the next morning.
'If they were police operations, there would usually be marks or badges (on the SUVs). But in these cases there were none.
'I can't say they were carried out by the police because the MO (modus operandi) can be copied (replicated),' Supari 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 also told the court that the now defunct Special Task Force on Organised Crime (Stafoc) coordinated investigations for Koh and Amri as well as the missing couple, Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu.
Asked by Liew's lawyer, Jerald Gomez, whether the police managed to track down the vehicles involved in Koh's abduction from footage of CCTVs located on major roads and highways, Supari said most of the CCTVs under the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) purview were not functioning at the time.
Gomez: But in (the late deputy public prosecutor) Kevin Morais's murder case, the police managed to track the suspects through the CCTV footage.
Supari: Those CCTVs were under the purview of their local council. We tried to get the footage but failed.
Trial judge Justice Su Tiang Joo then asked Supari how the authorities were able to manage the community's safety and wellbeing if the CCTVs were not functioning.
Supari told the court that the equipment came under the purview of the state government. He said the issue has been raised at state exco meetings.
On whether the police tried to obtain CCTVs from highway concessionaires, Supari said his officers managed to obtain black and white images of traffic flow but could not identify the vehicles' registration numbers.
Former e-hailing driver acquitted of kidnapping Koh
Supari also told the court that the police had, in 2017, arrested Lam Chang Nam, a former e-hailing driver, for allegedly blackmailing Koh's son, Jonathan. In 2018, Lam was subsequently charged for kidnapping Koh.
However, Supari told the court that his investigations indicated that Lam was not aware that Koh had been kidnapped.
'The instruction from the (Attorney-General's Chambers) was to file a charge under Section 365 of Penal Code (for kidnapping).
'Lam Chang Nam was acquitted at the end of the prosecution's case,' he added.
The hearing continues on May 28.