KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — The wife of pastor Raymond Koh penned an open letter to police today, the 200th day since her husband was abducted, to express disappointment and consternation over the handling of the investigation.
In Susanna Liew's letter, she said her family was denied updates on the investigations and forced instead to learn of new developments via the Inspector-General of Police and his officers' remarks reported in the news.
Liew also noted that investigations appeared to shift towards Koh and his alleged proselytisation prior to his abduction, rather than on locating the missing Christian pastor.
Police announcements on the case were also “disturbing”, she said when complaining that these were often “sensationalist” and “inconsistent”.
“After 200 days of this kind of treatment, my children and I are disappointed and exhausted. I do not know why you and the police have chosen to treat us this way,
“You have ignored the basic obligation to update the family of an abduction victim in a professional and compassionate manner,” Liew wrote in the letter directed at the retiring Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
Despite telling the family not to speak to the media about the case, Liew noted that Khalid did not adhere to his own advice and demonstrated a readiness to share details with the press before the family.
She added that resolving Koh's case was not only vital for his family, but also critical for the inter-racial and inter-religious harmony in Malaysia.
Liew also took note of Khalid's impending exit as the IGP, and “prayed” that his successor will bring new vigour to the investigation and demonstrate the openness she has received from groups such as the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).
“As such, I wish you a happy retirement and a blessed 60th birthday on 5th September. I pray that God will bless you and grant you a good life with your loved ones after your long service to the nation.
“I am reminded that Raymond’s own birthday is on 2nd November, and I still hope and pray that he will return to celebrate this day with us,” she wrote.
Koh was abducted four months ago in broad daylight on a public road in Petaling Jaya on February 13 by a group of masked people, with his kidnapping captured by surveillance cameras.
His abduction triggered concern among international and local Christian groups, which urged Putrajaya and the police to pour all available resource to locating him.
Although Koh's abduction was already sensational by itself, the case became more startling when police revealed, among others, that he may have been captured by human traffickers and that the main suspect in the case was a notorious smuggler operating in the Malaysia-Thai border.
Koh's case was also complicated when another activist, former Petaling Jaya councillor Peter Chong, disappeared and later claimed he was also abducted in his private investigation of leads purportedly linked to Koh's capture.
