The wife of Pastor Raymond Koh, who disappeared in a dramatic daylight abduction in 2017, has written to the attorney general calling for criminal charges to be filed against several senior police officers, including a former Special Branch deputy director.
In a detailed 35-page letter dated 21 January, Susanna Liew presented what she described as substantial circumstantial evidence linking the ex-Special Branch deputy director, Awaludin Jadid, and other officers to the enforced disappearances of her husband and social activist Amri Che Mat, who vanished in November 2016.
“There is substantial circumstantial evidence to charge Awaludin Jadid, Razman Ramli, Azam Azahari Othman, Saiful Bahari Abdul Aziz, Muhammad Ali, (and) others,” Liew said.
The letter suggests possible charges under Section 34 of the Penal Code (common intention) for offences including murder, kidnapping, wrongful confinement in secret, criminal conspiracy, furnishing false information, causing disappearance of evidence, and public servants disobeying directions of law.
In her letter to Attorney General Dusuki Mokhtar, Liew acknowledged that he may prefer more certainty before charging police officers, and appealed for a special task force headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
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Liew said the task force can locate and investigate Saiful, secure testimony from Special Branch officer Shamzaini Daud as a key witness, and investigate all individuals named in the Suhakam reports, a cabinet-appointed special task force report, and a High Court judgment.
Shamzaini had provided crucial testimony linking police involvement to the enforced disappearances of Koh and Amri.
Liew states in the letter that she has located information about Saiful on various occasions, including his Facebook pages, marriages, children, Covid vaccination records at a clinic in Wangsa Ukay on 16 December 2021 and 6 January 2022, renewal of road tax for a Toyota Vios, and income tax number.
She believes “there is a deliberate attempt by those in power in the police to suppress this information/evidence”.
The letter also referred to findings from three separate investigations – Suhakam, the special task force and a High Court judgment – all of which concluded that state agents were responsible for the abductions.
Liew noted in her letter that Suhakam found that “the direct and circumstantial evidence… proves, on a balance of probabilities, that he was abducted by state agents, namely, the Special Branch, Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur”.
She also highlighted the special task force’s conclusion that the disappearances of the two men were “most likely caused by the direct or indirect actions of rogue police officers acting alone or in groups together with unidentified individuals from religious bodies or organisations”.
Liew’s letter also cited extensive case law establishing that convictions can be secured based solely on circumstantial evidence, noting that the Federal Court has held that “circumstantial evidence can sometimes be stronger than direct evidence as there is no possibility of it being like a witness’s testimony, which may be lacking in truth or accuracy”.
She also argued that in cases of enforced disappearance, circumstantial evidence is typically the only available evidence due to systematic suppression of information by state agents.
Liew said that following Suhakam’s findings, she had met with then-home minister Mahiaddin Yasin, who assured her he would “get to the bottom of this and ensure those responsible would be held accountable.”
She also met with then-Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“I never heard anything after that, except that the cabinet had agreed to set up an STF [special task force] to investigate the Suhakam findings.
“I hope the AG, as the guardian of public interest and justice, will favour me with an early response,” she said in her letter.
Copies of the letter were also sent to Digital Minister Gobind Singh, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (for law and institutional reform) Azalina Othman Said.
Disappearances, legal battle
Amri, an alleged Shia follower and proselytiser, vanished on 24 November 2016, in Kangar, Perlis.
His wife testified that on 12 May 2018, Shamzaini told her the division was responsible for the abduction.
In 2017, Koh was abducted in broad daylight along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya while driving to a friend’s house. CCTV footage believed to have captured the incident showed at least 15 men and three black SUVs involved in the operation.
In 2019, Suhakam concluded that both Koh and Amri were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by Special Branch members from Bukit Aman.
On 5 November last year, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Su Tiang Joo found the government and police liable for Koh and Amri’s disappearances.
The following day, Dusuki confirmed that the Attorney General’s Chambers would be filing an appeal against the rulings, asserting that the decision was not based on established judicial principles since the judge “erred in his findings” regarding the facts and the law applicable. – Malaysiakini
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