The woman who once described herself as a quiet pastor's wife is now at the center of one of Malaysia's most consequential human rights cases. Nearly nine years after Raymond Koh was pulled from his car by masked men in a military-style roadside operation, a Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled that Malaysia's Special Branch carried out his abduction and that the police and federal government are responsible for his enforced disappearance. Koh vanished in February 2017, the BBC reports, his snatching captured on CCTV and widely shared online. No ransom demand ever came.
A similar abduction months earlier of activist Amri Che Mat, along with a later confession from a police sergeant and the tracing of a gold Toyota Vios tied to both cases, pushed Malaysia's human rights commission to a blunt conclusion in 2019: Special Branch officers had taken both men because authorities viewed them as religious threats—Koh for allegedly trying to convert Muslims, Amri for alleged links to banned Shia Islam. A subsequent government task force echoed the findings, blaming "rogue" officers and naming a senior Special Branch official as a key figure.
Throughout, Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, worked to keep the case alive, per the BBC, selling handmade jewelry to support her family while pressing officials she believed were stonewalling and offering "red herrings." In 2020, she sued top police commanders, the national force, and the government, accusing them of orchestrating Koh's abduction and concealing his fate. Last month, a High Court judge found that "one or more" named officials and the police were responsible and that, because they acted under state authority, the government is liable. Government officials said they'll appeal. Liew was awarded several million ringgit, potentially the largest payout in Malaysian history, to be released only when her husband's whereabouts are revealed.
"Though this will not bring Koh back, it is somewhat a vindication and closure for our family," she said, per the AP. Still, no officer named in the findings has been disciplined; one has been promoted. Liew, who has since become an international advocate against enforced disappearances and received a US International Women of Courage award, said she has personally forgiven those she believes were involved but continues to demand accountability, an oversight body for police, and an inquiry to track down everyone implicated. Her family, she said, remains "frozen in grief" until they learn whether Raymond Koh is alive.
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