UAT 1 : Task force dissatisfied with Pastor Koh’s abduction probe, court hears

KUALA LUMPUR: The chairman of a task force set up to probe the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat told the High Court his team was dissatisfied with the outcome of police investigations into the matter.

Abd Rahim Uda said the task force members believed “much more would be done, (and) in a better way”.

He said more should have been done to track down Saiful Bahari Abdul Aziz, the prime suspect in both abductions.

Rahim said the task force had identified Saiful as the main suspect as his car was spotted at the locations where both Koh and Amri were allegedly abducted.

“We did ask our investigating officers to trace Saiful, but he could not be found,” Rahim said in his testimony.

“(From what we gathered) Saiful was a contract worker under the Special Branch for 12 years.

“We think it was not reasonable to hire him under a contract for over 10 years. He should have been confirmed (as a full-time officer) if he was good,” the witness said.

Rahim was testifying in a lawsuit filed by Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew, on her family’s behalf, against the police and government over the pastor’s disappearance.

Liew wants the authorities to be held liable for his unlawful abduction and for misfeasance in public office.

Asked by lawyer Steven Thiru whether the task force thought the investigating officers had done their best to track Saiful, Rahim said: “Sometimes something extra needs to be done.”

“He (Saiful) disappeared after both cases came to public knowledge. This raised a lot of questions in our mind,” Rahim added.

‘No cooperation from Special Branch’

Rahim also told the court that the task force did not receive the Special Branch’s full cooperation in locating Saiful.

“There were media alerts issued to notify the public that the police were looking for Saiful,” he said.

The police, including Saiful’s supervisor Azizi Abd Hamid, should have known the whereabouts of the suspect, his home and family.

“We assume that either Saiful did not want to appear and cooperate with the task force or someone prevented him from coming forward,” he added.

Rahim also said the task force recommended that a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) be convened to inquire into Koh and Amri’s cases

“We (the task force) have no powers to summon witnesses to give statements, unlike an RCI. We needed the police and MACC to assist us (in conducting all investigations),” he added.

The hearing continues before Justice Su Tiang Joo on Wednesday.

Suhakam held a public inquiry into the disappearance of Koh and Amri between 2017 and 2019.

It concluded that Koh and Amri were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by the state, specifically by the Special Branch.