09/12/2020 Malaysia (International Christian Concern) – The public inquiry into the disappearance of Pastor Joshua and Ruth Hilmy continued on September 10, with the 13th witness being called to testify.
According to Free Malaysia Today, while the police officer assigned to track the whereabouts of Joshua in 2018 found there was nothing strange about Joshua Hilmy being at a church or being a Christian, as Malaysia allowed people to practice their religious beliefs freely, Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chief commissioner Hishamuddin Yunus said that Hairol Azhar should have probed further as Joshua was missing.
Hairol was in charge of the missing case for 18 days in 2018 as the Sungai Way police chief. However, Hishamuddin was not pleased with Hairol who was not well prepared to testify at the public inquiry. He said he was disappointed with the lack of information from Hairol as the officer could not remember most of his facts.
“An officer who is coming to the inquiry must be well prepared. I’m rather upset and disappointed,” Hishamuddin said. “He could have requested for another date (if not well prepared).”
Pastor Joshua, who had converted to Christianity from Islam, and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, were last seen on Nov 30, 2016. Suhakam initiated the public inquiry of the couple’s case last February, but had to halt due to the pandemic in March. The investigation only resumed last month.
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