Watch this first: "Then that somebody is going to prison".
“It would probably distress the sense of justice of the man on the street that he will be contributing towards the payment of damages awarded to be paid by the very person entrusted to protect him and who have been found liable for abusing such power,” he added.
Previously it was SUHAKAM (in 2020) that named the Police as being involved in the abduction of Pastor Koh and Amri Che Mat.
Among other things the Suhakam report (2020) said:
- "The Commission has found that both Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat were victims of enforced disappearance, and there is credible evidence to suggest that the Special Branch of the Royal Malaysia Police were involved in their abductions."
- "The police have failed in their duty to investigate properly, and agents of the state were culpable in their disappearances."
However SUHAKAM is not a Court of Law therefore their findings or rulings have no force of law. Keputusan SUHAKAM tidak mempunyai kuasa undang-undang.
But now there is a decision by the High Court of Malaya that has clearly held the Police responsible for the disappearances of Pastor Koh and Amri Che Mat. The High Court has ordered the gomen and the Police to pay damages / compensation of almost RM40 million to the families of Pastor Koh and Amri Che Mat.
If that is not "involvement" or culpability then I dont know what is.
And yesterday, further to his judgement, the High Court judge Su Tiang Joo delivered a harsh critique of state accountability over this case. Here are Malay Mail (click here) and Yahoo News (click here):
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — In a scathing commentary that went beyond his landmark rulings yesterday, High Court judge Su Tiang Joo delivered a harsh critique of state accountability, lamenting the irony of using public funds to compensate for the wrongdoings of government servants.
His remarks came as he ordered the government to pay nearly RM37 million to the family of Pastor Raymond Koh for enforced disappearance and over RM3 million to that of activist Amri Che Mat for negligence in a police investigation.
Su ordered compensation of RM10,000 per day from the day Koh went missing until he is found — an amount that currently exceeds RM31 million — to be placed in a trust fund until his fate is ascertained. Koh has been missing for a total of 3,187 days as of November 5.
“The RM10,000 is not a figure I plucked from the air. It was a figure that was given by the Court of Appeal involving false imprisonment at RM10,000 per day as given for deprivation of personal liberty under the Federal Constitution,” he said in justifying the sum.
However, the judge acknowledged the irony in awarding such large sums, noting that the higher the damages, the more public funds would ultimately be used to pay for the wrongdoings of government servants.
“It offends the concept of fairness, reasonableness and justice,” he said.
He then quoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s 1983 speech at the Conservative Party Conference to illustrate his point.
“Let us never forget this fundamental truth, the State has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves.
“If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more.
“It is no good thinking that someone else will pay ― that ‘someone else’ is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money,” he quoted.
Su also cited the case of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered by two Royal Malaysia Police officers, noting how the Shah Alam High Court had found both the officers and the Malaysian government vicariously liable for her death in 2022.
The court had ordered the defendants in that case to pay RM5 million in damages, with the case currently pending appeal at the Court of Appeal.
He said the same principle applied to Koh’s and Amri’s cases — that the higher the award, the more public funds would be used — and called it a bitter irony.
“It would probably distress the sense of justice of the man on the street that he will be contributing towards the payment of damages awarded to be paid by the very person entrusted to protect him and who have been found liable for abusing such power,” he added.
Amri was abducted in Perlis around midnight on November 24, 2016, when his vehicle was surrounded by three cars and five men.
Koh was abducted on February 13, 2017, in Selangor after his car was surrounded by seven vehicles and about 15 masked individuals.
In April 2019, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) concluded that both men were victims of enforced disappearance carried out by the police’s Special Branch.
My Comments:
High Court judge Su Tiang Joo's remarks: very person entrusted to protect him and who have been found liable for abusing such power clearly means the Police were liable.
The High Court Judge clearly means the Police abused their power. This was the ruling in the High Court of Malaya as well as in follow up remarks by the presiding judge Mr Su Tiang Joo.
This directly implies that the Police knew what happened to Pastor Koh and Amri Che Mat.
No grand prizes for guessing that the Police also knew what happened to Pastor Helmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu - the other couple who have gone missing.
Habeas Corpus ? Where are their bodies?
The High Court has ordered the gomen and the Police to pay the family of Pastor Koh RM10,000 for each day that goes by without Pastor Koh being returned to his family.
- So now this becomes a question for the present IGP as well as the current Minister of Home Affairs.
- You must make a statement.
- And think extremely very carefully before you make any statements.
- Because human lives are involved
- And most likely these people are no more alive.
- That means foul play and possibly murder.
The Home Minister today, the Home Ministry today, the IGP today and the Police today are not found liable for abusing such power . These cases happened in 2016 and 2017.
However the Home Minister today, the Home Ministry today, the IGP today and the Police today are responsible to bringing this matter to a proper and full closure.
There is now a ruling by the High Court of Malaya that the Police officers (of 2016-2017) were liable in the disappearances of Pator Koh and Amri Che Mat. This is a ruling of the Court of Law.
By ordering "compensation of RM10,000 per day from the day Koh went missing until he is found" the High Court has now made it the responsibility of the
- present Home Minister,
- the Home Ministry today,
- the present IGP and
- the Police today
Each day that the present Home Minister, the Home Ministry today, the present IGP and the Police today do not deliver Pastor Koh to his family it will cost the taxpayer RM10,000. Failure to deliver Pastor Koh to his family and burden the taxpayer with RM10,000 compensation per day will shift blame on the present Home Minister and the present IGP. Please take note.
And if Pastor Koh and Amry Che Mat are found to be not alive (which is my strongest suspicion) it immediately indicates foul play and murder. And because more than one person was abducted and disappeared it means serial murder.
And for that the previous Home Minister at the relevant time, the Home Ministry then, the IGP at that time and the Police officers at that time must be brought into scrutiny and possible prosecution.
Too many people have gone missing. Pastor Koh, Amri Che Mat, Pastor Helmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu. Human rights groups have mentioned others as well. These cases will not go away.
Here is the real problem for the culprits involved.
Dulu the sun never set on the Barisan Nasional / UMNO gomen.
All sorts of crap happened then: Altantuya, Pastor Koh, Amri etc.
Then in 2018 the BN / UMNO got kicked out.
Pretty soon these cases will become election issues.
"Then that somebody is going to prison"
