PARLIAMENT Twelve police officers have been arrested, and are now being investigated for possible links to the mass graves of suspected victims of human traffickers found near the Malaysian-Thai border.

“Four police officers have been arrested by police for suspected involvement with trafficking syndicates and another eight have been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,” Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told the Dewan Rakyat today.

They were arrested during three different anti-human trafficking operations dubbed ' Op Pintas ' from March last year till now, he said, adding that 43 human traffickers were also nabbed.

Wan Junaidi said this in reply to an emergency motion by Pakatan to debate the discovery of remains of what are believed to be the victims of human traffickers at camps near the Malaysian-Thai border.

Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby later, Wan Junaidi however said it is not yet known if the 12 officers are linked to the mass graves.

“We are still investigating whether they were directly involved or whether they were aware of it but took no action,” he said, noting that it was an offence for enforcement officers to aid and abet any crime.

He said the immigration, police, Perlis forestry rangers and any other enforcement agency which may have been involved in the case will be probed.

“Bukit Aman will be conducting the investigation. They have no ties to the agencies in Perlis so the question of inter-department bias does not arise,” he said.

Set up a royal commission of inquiry

Wan Junaidi also explained that the authorities were not aware of the multiple graves in Bukit Perlis because of the difficult terrain.

“(On the Malaysian side) it takes three hours on foot to reach the plateau from the last spot where vehicles can still access.

“We did not expect anyone to be up that hill,” he said.

Wan Junaidi, who will be visiting the site tomorrow, said the difficult terrain is also hampering efforts to exhume the graves, noting that only two remains have been dug up so far.

Meanwhile, the opposition has called on the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to probe how the human traffickers had got in and the complicity of Malaysian enforcement officers in their activities.

“I call upon the minister and the government to save the face of our country and set up an independent RCI to investigate this matter,” opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail ( photo ) said at a press conference today.

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