'Will our husbands be returned to us?'
The wives of Amri Che Mat and Raymond Koh today demanded that their husbands be returned to them after Suhakam concluded that the police's special branch was responsible for their disappearance...
The wives of Amri Che Mat and Raymond Koh today demanded that their husbands be returned to them after Suhakam concluded that the police's special branch was responsible for their disappearance.
Amri disappeared at about midnight on Nov 24, 2016, while Koh was abducted in broad daylight on Feb 13, 2017.
Speaking to the media after Suhakam revealed its inquiry findings in Kuala Lumpur today, Amri's wife Norhayati Mohd Ariffin said she wanted answers.
“Will they return them to us...What is the status of my children? My children are young. I don’t know what their status is. Are they orphans?” asked the distraught mother of four.
Meanwhile, Koh’s wife Susanna Liew wanted closure.
“Of course, we hope our husbands will be returned to us. If not, we want to know what happened to them. We need closure. [...] It's an ambiguous loss, we don’t know (if) we are widows,” she said.
Liew also urged the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
“(In) the end, we want the people involved investigated and brought to justice. I think, for us, that would be the solution.
“[...] And we just wish that whatever action the government is going to take, it would be fast, efficient, impartial and follows the rule of law,” she added.
‘This can’t occur in civilised society’
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Koh and Amri’s families lauded Suhakam’s “brave” conclusion and urged the Pakatan Harapan government to take action immediately.
Lead counsel for the Koh family, Gurdial Singh Nijar (seated, centre), urged Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to implement Suhakam’s recommendations, which include setting up an independent task force to get to the bottom of the cases.
He also urged Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who was the Special Branch chief when the abductions occurred, to answer to Suhakam's findings.
“You cannot abduct people in broad daylight in circumstances such as this. This cannot occur in a civilised society and there must be repercussions.
“The authorities must immediately take action and identify the officers (involved),” Gurdial added.
NGO Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged) spokesperson Rama Ramanathan added that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa also needed to answer to Suhakam’s findings, which stated that religious authories were involved in monitoring Amri and Koh before they disappeared.
Also present was the lead counsel for Amri's family Kenny Ng.
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