PETALING JAYA: Susanna Liew, the wife of Pastor Raymond Koh, has instructed her lawyers to appeal the High Court decision to stay the enforcement of a RM37 million-plus judgment awarded to their family over his abduction nine years ago.
She called the ruling by Justice Mahazan Mat Taib “profoundly troubling”, saying it appeared to reverse the law as laid down by the Federal Court in a previous case.
Liew said her counsel had previously relied on an apex court decision in which it was ruled that the onus lies on the applicant to demonstrate special circumstances justifying such a stay.
She said according to that decision, the applicant requires affidavit evidence to prove that the money paid out cannot be recovered if an appeal succeeds, due to special circumstances such as insolvency.
“There was no affidavit evidence whatsoever from the defendants or applicants alleging that my husband or I are insolvent.
“Yet, the learned judge appeared to reverse the settled burden of proof by stating I had not shown that I needed the money. This reverses the law as laid down by the Federal Court,” she said in a statement today.
Liew also noted that the government had proposed before Justice Su Tiang Joo, the judge who awarded the damages, that the funds be deposited with a public trustee under the finance ministry.
“This proposal culminated in a consent order, whereby Amanah Raya Bhd was appointed trustee to hold the money on trust pending the ascertainment or disclosure of my husband’s whereabouts.
“One must ask: why propose a public trustee, enter into a consent order and secure the guarantee of repayment of the sums if the appeal succeeds, only to later argue that the monies should not be paid at all? The position is irreconcilable,” she asked.
Liew said she had lived for eight years without Koh as her sole breadwinner or any meaningful financial support.
“To now deprive me of the very sums lawfully awarded to me compounds the injustice,” she said.
Liew also said the stay order made no distinction for Su’s order for police to recommence investigations into Koh’s whereabouts, and report to the Attorney-General’s Chambers every two months on their progress.
She said it had in effect halted investigations ordered by a “judge who presided over the trial for years, heard all the witnesses, examined all the evidence and made a considered and reasoned decision”.
“With respect, how can a judge who did not hear the witnesses or evaluate the evidence stop an investigative order made by a trial judge who did?” she asked.
