Susanna Koh said all this time, the suspect, Lam Cham Nam, was charged only with extorting money from her son, Jonathan, and the family was unaware that he had been charged under Section 365 of the Penal Code for kidnapping.
“I am disappointed that the police have resorted to doing this to interrupt the inquiry into my husband’s abduction and that they did not even attempt to inform me and my children of this so-called new development.
“This was the pattern with the former IGP (inspector-general of police) last year, and I personally had hopes that with the new IGP, things would change for the better.
“Still, I am grateful that at least the key witnesses have already testified at the inquiry into my husband’s abduction.
“I hope that the other cases will continue without any of this kind of disruption or interference so that the truth will get a chance to be aired,” she said in a statement.
The “other cases” referred to by Susanna are the inquiry into the disappearance of Perlis activist Amri Che Mat and Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth.
Earlier today, Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai told a press conference that the police had not ordered the commission to stop the inquiry into the disappearance of the pastor.
Mah, who is a former Court of Appeal judge, said some media reports gave the impression that the police had instructed Suhakam to cease the inquiry, but that this was not the case.
The police, instead, had pointed out a Suhakam provision which compelled the commission to cease the inquiry.
“We made the decision to stop the inquiry because respect for the law is foremost in our minds,” he said.
Susanna said if the police truly had a “new lead” and a breakthrough in the case and Lam was really linked to the abduction of her husband, then the whole world would be watching the case very closely to scrutinise what the police would do going forward.
“If the police are unable to prove that this is truly an authentic lead into my husband’s abduction, then I will be bringing this up with them again, and I will require proper answers, since I am Raymond’s wife and I have a right to know what happened to him.”
Raymond, 63, was abducted from his car by a group of more than 10 men in a convoy of vehicles on Feb 13 last year.
CCTV footage showed at least three black SUVs were involved in the abduction. Many speculated that his abduction might have been connected to his alleged attempts to spread Christianity, although his family has dismissed such claims.
Amri, who co-founded charity organisation Perlis Hope, has been missing since Nov 24, 2016.
His wife, Norhayati Ariffin, said witnesses saw five vehicles blocking the path of Amri’s car before he was whisked away, just 550 metres from their home in Bukit Chabang, Perlis.
Joshua and his wife, Ruth, meanwhile, were last seen on Nov 30, 2016. A police report was lodged in Klang but the case was referred to the Petaling Jaya police as the complainant said the missing persons lived in Kampung Tunku.
Group questions police over ‘sudden’ ending to Suhakam inquiry