PARLIAMENT Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar does not agree with the 'no foul play' conclusion of the police on the cause of death of 26 human bodies found in Wang Kelian, Perlis.

"It is premature to say there was no foul play," Wan Junaidi told the Dewan Rakyat, rebutting the finding arrived at by Perlis police chief Senior Asst Comm Shafie Ismail.

The medical examination alone cannot determine if there was any criminal element in a case, he said.

After the examinations and post-mortem done on the human remains, the authorities still needed to determine the definition of 'foul play', Wan Junaidi ( photo ) said in response to Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang).

 

Shafie was reported as saying the case was classified as “sudden death” after post-mortem were conducted on the remains of the 26 human bodies found at Wang Kelian, close to the Thai border.

Speaking during the winding-up of the second reading of Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Bill 2015, Santiago called on Wan Junaidi to correct the statement made by police.

Santiago said the statement made by the police was unacceptable.

Wan Junaidi also said the graves were found at Wang Kelian and not in Thai territory.

The graves were located a few hundred metres away from the border with Thailand, he said, adding that the Rohingya chose Malaysia as their resting place on religious grounds.

"I don't want to come to any conclusion, but that’s my assessment. They, being Muslims, would have wanted to be buried in a Muslim cemetery in Malaysia and not in the other side," he said.

'No need for commission'

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi shot down the suggestion that a special commission be set up to take over the migrants graves probe by the police.

Several MPs made the call for the commission following news reports that 80 percent of border security officers were corrupt indirectly contributing to the deaths as a result of human trafficking.

"We have integrity, don't question everyone as though they are not to be trusted," Wan Junaidi shot back.

"There is no need to set up a special commission.

"Even if a special commission were set up, we still need to pass its findings to the police and MACC to follow up," he said.

On June 3, the New Straits Times quoted the Special Branch as saying that many personnel of border security agencies were directly involved in syndicates smuggling drugs, weapons and humans at the Malaysia-Thai border.

"The enemy we have to fight is one that operates as an institution. We are dealing with institutionalised corruption so deeply entrenched that expecting internal disciplining is like asking the chief crook to rat on his runners," a Special Branch officer said, according to the mainstream daily.

Following this damning revelation, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that he wanted to replace the enforcement agencies guarding the borders with the military.

 

"I cannot tolerate this. That is why I will take this up with the cabinet to ask that the army takes over fully," Zahid had said.