COMMENT | Don’t ever underestimate the small attendance at Suaram’s recent candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka expressing concerns over the disappearance of four religious and political activists.

Most of us have already attended at least one gathering to show our solidarity to the family members of Pastor Raymond Koh, Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth and Perlis political activist, Amri Che Mat.

Before the dust settled, a former aide of Subang MP R Sivarasa, Peter Chong, has also gone missing. Chong had stopped working with Sivarasa a year ago.

Although the motive behind his disappearance has not been established, people are likely to link the disappearance of Chong (on right in photo) with that of the others, especially Koh, who was captured in broad daylight by a team of 15 professionally-trained abductors in a convoy of three SUVs, two Proton sedan vehicles and two motorcycles.

There is so much mystery in the recent cases that raise concerns, especially since the police have no lead whatsoever, despite the benefit of having closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage provided by a house owner within a hundred metres from the spot where Koh was abducted.

It has come to our understanding that photofits of at least one of the abductors have been made based on eyewitnesses’ accounts, but the police have yet to release the photofits.

Instead, we are hearing from inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar that Koh’s disappearance could be due to attempts to proselytise to a group of Muslim youths in Kangar, Perlis.

Police report raises more suspicions

What Khalid revealed about a police report being lodged against Koh in Perlis raises more questions than answers.

Why is a police report lodged at this juncture when he has gone missing? Is it not obvious to every onlooker that there is a group of people trying to justify the sudden disappearance of Koh?

Why did Khalid bring this matter up when we are expecting the police to conduct its investigation and keep the public and Koh’s family informed of what is happening in Malaysia these days?

It is the duty and obligation of the police to return Koh to the family first, before taking any legal actions against Koh if it is found to be true that he was involved in proselytisation of Muslims in Kangar, Perlis. At least, Koh would have access to legal representation.

As we all know, Koh and others were involved in helping the underprivileged community, which is already neglected by the people in the corridors of power.

There is no reason or any justification for the police to blame Koh’s disappearance on his alleged attempts to proselytise Muslims. In fact, the people who lodged the report should be investigated thoroughly for their allegations.

Such a police report, of course, does not support any attempt to abduct a fellow citizen in broad daylight.

State agencies involved?

In fact, Suaram’s press statement recently has urged the police to come out with a statement assuring the Malaysian public that no state agencies conducted the abductions.

Suaram, in its statement, said: “We remind everyone, and especially the authorities, that Article 5 of our Federal Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty of all persons within our borders and Article 9(2) guarantees the right to move freely. Since all abductees are people of faith, we add that Article 11 (1) states that “Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4) to propagate it.”

Most of us who watched the CCTV footage of Koh’s disappearance could not help but ask this question on whether a state agency was involved. No one has come close to Suaram in asking this question in public.

Whatever it is, Malaysians want to know, for example, whether such an abduction was done by any state agency and why does the IGP now raise Koh’s alleged attempts in proselytisation based on a police report, when we have urged the police to find and rescue Koh and others who are believed to have gone missing?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.