SUHAKAM HEARING | The pastor Raymond Koh had given specific instructions to volunteers at his charity Harapan Komuniti not to proselytise, according to his wife Susanna Liew.

She said Koh had largely left his pastoral work when he founded nonprofit Harapan Komuniti in 2004, although he was still referred to as a pastor and conducted sermons at various churches.

With regard to his charity work, however, Liew said: “Raymond specifically told volunteers not to preach during orientation and to never talk about religion.”

She said this when testifying as the second witness at the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) public hearing today on whether Koh and three other individuals were victims of enforced disappearance.

Koh was abducted in Petaling Jaya on Feb 13, while the other individuals who are the subjects of the inquiry are activist Amri Chemat, Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Hilmy.

Koh’s abduction was speculated to be linked to allegations that he had been proselytising to Muslims, for which he was said to have received death threats.

According to Liew, Harapan Komuniti assisted the poor regardless of their race or religion, including Muslims.

The charity is not a Christian organisation and is independent of any religion, she said.

Among others, she said it runs the Inspirasi reading room in Petaling Jaya, which is stocked with encyclopaedias, SPM reference books, and computers. The charity also provides groceries for single mothers and helps them make a living through sales of baked goods and handcrafted jewellery.

She said she had been less involved in the charity’s activities since she went to live with one of her daughters in Singapore for three years since 2011.

Since Koh’s abduction however, she has been doing administrative work at Harapan Komuniti and the charity continues to run as usual.

Both Liew and the hearing’s third witness Sri Ram KS Gopala Iyer also testified that the police had taken a keen interest in Harapan Komuniti’s activities in their questioning, especially on the alleged proselytisation to Muslims.

The propagation of any religion besides Islam to Muslims is illegal in Malaysia.

This had led them to question whether the police were trying to find Koh and his abductors or to prosecute him and his associates.

“His (the investigating officer’s) questions were more on the activities of Raymond and after 20 minutes of questioning I told him that we are losing precious time and I want to go and find my husband,” Liew said.

She claimed that the police had also floated the possibility that Koh had a mistress and was fleeing across the border to be with her.

“He’s a good father and a good husband, so I can write that off,” she said.

He had earlier told the inquiry that the family is still in possession of Koh’s passport.

Liew also vented her frustration that the police had not been keeping her updated on the progress of the investigation, and said she hopes that the Suhakam inquiry would spur efforts to discover the truth and find her missing husband.

She said that during a meeting with the then inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, investigation taskforce chief Fadzil Ahmat, and about 20 police officers on March 23, she had handed a letter to Khalid and Fadzil expressing concern about the police’s line of questioning.

“I also requested that Raymond’s abduction is not to be used by religious authorities and others as an excuse to ‘harass, investigate, and prosecute’ the family, friends, colleagues, and associates of Raymond Koh.

“I urged the police to focus on Raymond’s abduction and to get the abductors,” she said.

Sri Ram meanwhile said the police’s line of questioning had prompted him to confront the investigating officer for not asking questions related to the abduction.

He said the officer responded by asking who does he think had orchestrated the kidnapping, and he said it was the police.

He said the investigating officer did not respond to his assertion.

When asked for his reasons, he claimed that Koh had been harassed and followed by the police for years since the 2011 DUMC raid. This had included stops at the border where he was interrogated about his trips abroad by special branch officers.

A police observer at the inquiry objected to Sri Ram’s assertion that the police had orchestrated the abduction and asked for this to be expunged from his testimony.

However, the hearing’s chairperson Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai rejected the observer’s objections, saying that it is up to the investigating officer to object to the statement.

Other Suhakam commissioners on the panel are Aishah Bidin and Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh.

Sri Ram, who is one of Harapan Komuniti’s directors, said that after the police had questioned him, four officers also went and searched Harapan Komuniti’s office in Petaling Jaya on the next day on Feb 15.

“The policemen were going through and taking photographs of the documents at Harapan Komuniti, and opening cupboards and drawers.

“They took a list of names of the students who attend Harapan Komuniti. I recall a policeman ripping this document out of its file. The policemen also looked at the books in the library. They took photographs of the gatherings organised by Harapan Komuniti in celebration of festive holidays,” he said.

This is after he had already agreed to meet the police at the office on Feb 17.

He said he had rushed to the office upon hearing of the search and confronted the police, who then admitted that they did not have a search warrant.

He said they claimed that they were merely there to question the administrative staff Tamilsalvee Ponnusamy.

A few days later, he said the police contacted him again asking to speak to as many of Harapan Komuniti’s students and single mothers as possible.

The first such meeting took place on Feb 24 with a student named Taufik. He said Taufik was asked about Harapan Kommuniti’s activities, including whether Harapan Kommuniti had given him religious education, and whether he had been to church. Sri Ram said he was present at the time and Taufik had answered both questions in the negative.

He said the police also asked him (Sri Ram) whether Raymond was having an affair with other women, but there were again no questions about the abduction.

The second meeting with the students took place on March 1, this time involving four Malay boys and one Indian Muslim girl.

This time, he said they were questioned unaccompanied.

The hearing will resume with Koh and Liew’s eldest son Jonathan’s testimony on Oct 30.