The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered the government to pay RM10,000 (around £1830) per day to missing pastor Raymond Koh and his wife Susanna Liew, starting from 13 February 2017 - the day he disappeared - until he is found.
As of today the total sum has already reached RM31,830,000 (£5.8 million). In addition to the daily compensation, the judge has also awarded Koh’s wife RM3 million (around £550,000) in damages and RM250,000 (£45,740) in costs.
Pastor Koh was driving to a friend's house in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, in the middle of the day when he was taken in an apparently well-planned kidnapping.
Video footage taken from a nearby residence's CCTV appeared to show three black SUVs surrounding Koh's car, forcing him to stop, and several men dressed in black balaclavas getting out of their vehicles and overpowering him before bundling him into one of the cars. The vehicles drove off accompanied by two motorbike outriders. Up to 15 men were involved in the abduction which lasted just 45 seconds.
Pastor Koh’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew, initiated legal proceedings in 2020 after the failure of the police to adequately solve the case.
In 2019, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia ruled in a public inquiry that the abduction had been carried out by members of the police’s Special Branch.
In Wednesday's ruling, High Court Judge Su Tiang Joo said that current and former police officers were involved in the abduction.
The police will now be required to reopen their investigation and inform the attorney-general of their progress every two months.
Justice Su said, “The court is satisfied that the plaintiffs have proven that (the defendants) had exercised public power in bad faith. The enforced disappearance of Koh collectively constitutes oppression of the highest order.”
However Justice Su also ordered that the funds awarded to Liew and her three children must be kept in a trust fund and cannot be released to them until the pastor’s whereabouts are ascertained.
Speaking after the ruling was issued, Liew said: "After nearly nine years of the loss of a husband and father, anguish and uncertainty, the judgment brings a long-awaited decision."
She continued, "Though this will not bring Koh back, it is somewhat a vindication and closure for our family.
"We dedicate this struggle and judgment to Koh, a man of faith, compassion and courage, and to all victims of enforced disappearances."
Liew also expressed disappointment that the government failed to act on the recommendations made by previous inquiries into her husband’s disappearance, and that no action was taken against specific police officers that had been confirmed to have been involved in the abduction.
CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas welcomed the ruling of the Malaysian High Court, saying that it "does at least recognise the injustice" of Pastor Koh’s enforced disappearance.
He went on, "As Susanna says, this will not bring him back, and we therefore continue to call on the Malaysian authorities to establish a royal commission of inquiry to establish exactly what happened to him and his whereabouts today.
"This is a landmark decision that demonstrates the judiciary’s independence by holding state actors accountable, and setting a legal precedent for cases involving enforced disappearance."
Previously, Datuk Gerald Gomez, lawyer to Koh’s wife, has said, "I believe, sooner or later, the truth will come out in one way or another.
"Even if Raymond is martyred, he is with God and is in a better place. But if he is still alive then, I want to do all I can to get him out. I have had dreams and believe that one of these days soon, we will meet him again."
