Silence of Justice Ignored: Why the Home Ministry Revisits the 2020 Report on Amri & Koh Only After Court Order

Silence of Justice Ignored: Why the Home Ministry Revisits the 2020 Report on Amri & Koh Only After Court Order


16 Nov 2025 • 7:00 AM MYT


Kpost
Operation Consultant who is a keen observer of politics and current affairs

Photo Credit: SinarHarian(Bernama) , Scmp , Malaymail


The disappearance cases of Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh continue to haunt Malaysia’s conscience: a painful reminder of how justice delayed can often feel like justice denied. Eight years after Amri’s vanishing and seven years after Koh’s abduction, their families are still battling for accountability, even as the government appears to move at a snail pace.


Amri’s wife, Noorhayati Ariffin, has voiced her deep frustration over Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s recent remarks that the ministry is “working on” the High Court’s order to reopen investigations into both cases. Her disbelief is warranted. According to Noorhayati, the special task force report - commissioned by the Home Ministry itself - was already completed and submitted to the minister in 2020.


Source:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/11/11/amris-wife-questions-delay-in-reopening-probe-into-husbands-disappearance


“Why does the home minister need to wait until now to ‘reopen investigations’?” she asked pointedly. “The report, prepared by his own ministry, already found that police officers acted illegally and negligently, enabling rogue officers to operate with impunity.”


The timeline paints a troubling picture. In 2019, Suhakam’s inquiry concluded that both Amri and Koh were victims of enforced disappearances by state agents. A year later, the task force report echoed those findings and was handed to the Home Ministry. Yet, instead of action, the findings were classified, hidden behind a veil of bureaucracy. Even in June 2023, when Saifuddin promised to raise the issue with “higher authorities,” little progress followed.


Now, after the High Court’s damning verdicts - ordering the government and police to compensate Amri’s family RM3 million and Koh’s family RM37 million for gross investigative failures - the ministry has finally awakened to “review” what it has long possessed.


Noorhayati’s question cuts to the core of public sentiment: what else does the government need before acting? The reports from Suhakam, the task force, and the courts all point to systemic negligence and possible state complicity. Continuing to stall only deepens the distrust between the public and the institutions sworn to protect them.


For the families, words are no longer enough. What they seek is justice, transparency, and accountability - and for Malaysia to confront the uncomfortable truth that enforced disappearances have no place in a democratic nation.


Until those responsible are named and held to account, every delay will only reinforce one painful truth: the silence of the state is as loud as the cries of the disappeared.