Wife of missing Malaysian pastor awarded hundreds of thousands by court over his enforced disappearance

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered the federal government to pay RM10,000 (around £1830) per day to missing pastor Raymond Koh and his wife Susanna Liew, ranging from 13 February 2017 – the day he disappeared – until he’s found.

As of today the whole sum has already reached RM31,830,000 (£5.8 million). In addition to the every day compensation, the judge has also awarded Koh’s wife RM3 million (around £550,000) in damages and RM250,000 (£45,740) in costs.

Pastor Koh was driving to a friend’s house in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, in the course of the day when he was taken in an apparently well-planned kidnapping.

Video footage taken from a close-by residence’s CCTV appeared to indicate three black SUVs surrounding Koh’s automotive, forcing him to stop, and a number of other men wearing black balaclavas getting out of their vehicles and overpowering him before bundling him into one among the cars. The vehicles drove off accompanied by two motorbike outriders. Up to fifteen men were involved in the kidnapping which lasted just 45 seconds.

Pastor Koh’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew, initiated legal proceedings in 2020 after the failure of the police to adequately solve the case.

In 2019, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia ruled in a public inquiry that the kidnapping had been carried out by members of the police’s Special Branch.

In Wednesday’s ruling, High Court Judge Su Tiang Joo said that current and former cops were involved in the kidnapping.

The police will now be required to reopen their investigation and inform the attorney-general of their progress every two months.

Justice Su said, “The court is satisfied that the plaintiffs have proven that (the defendants) had exercised public power in bad faith. The enforced disappearance of Koh collectively constitutes oppression of the very best order.”

However Justice Su also ordered that the funds awarded to Liew and her three children should be kept in a trust fund and can’t be released to them until the pastor’s whereabouts are ascertained. 

Speaking after the ruling was issued, Liew said: “After nearly nine years of the lack of a husband and father, anguish and uncertainty, the judgment brings a long-awaited decision.” 

She continued, “Though this can not bring Koh back, it’s somewhat a vindication and closure for our family.

“We dedicate this struggle and judgment to Koh, a person of religion, compassion and courage, and to all victims of enforced disappearances.”

Liew also expressed disappointment that the federal government did not act on the recommendations made by previous inquiries into her husband’s disappearance, and that no motion was taken against specific cops that had been confirmed to have been involved in the kidnapping. 

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas welcomed the ruling of the Malaysian High Court, saying that it “does at the very least recognise the injustice” of Pastor Koh’s enforced disappearance.

He went on, “As Susanna says, this can not bring him back, and we due to this fact proceed to call on the Malaysian authorities to determine a royal commission of inquiry to determine exactly what happened to him and his whereabouts today.

“This is a landmark decision that demonstrates the judiciary’s independence by holding state actors accountable, and setting a legal precedent for cases involving enforced disappearance.”

Previously, Datuk Gerald Gomez, lawyer to Koh’s wife, has said, “I think, in the end, the reality will come out in a method or one other.

“Even if Raymond is martyred, he’s with God and is in a greater place. But if he remains to be alive then, I need to do all I can to get him out. I actually have had dreams and consider that one among as of late soon, we’ll meet him again.”