Muhyiddin: Suhakam report could aid RCI probe on Wang Kelian

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said a report on the Wang Kelian mass graves by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) could be useful in facilitating the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI)'s ongoing investigations into the case.

Muhyiddin said this after declining to comment on Suhakam's discovery that police had dispatched its forensics team to exhume bodies four months after the mass graves were discovered in May 2015.

It was among the findings of a 121-page report prepared by Suhakam and NGO Fortify Rights titled “Sold like a Fish”, which was launched yesterday.

"As of today, I will not comment on that. Maybe Suhakam has its own information or foundation (which came up with the findings).

"But we have established the RCI, which has been doing its job for about three weeks now. We have given it six months.

"Although Suhakam has its own findings, my view is that we can't precede the investigation conducted by the RCI," he told the media after closing the 11th TSM Golf Challenge at Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Nevertheless, Muhyiddin welcomed the Suhakam report.

"So since there's a report, maybe it helps in the investigation, and it's up to the RCI to refer to the findings prepared by Suhakam," he said.

He added that there must be certain criteria in place to determine the authenticity of information and whether the findings have a solid foundation.

The RCI on Wang Kelian, headed by former chief justice Arifin Zakaria, is expected to disclose its findings in June.

The mass killings made headlines in 2015 when police discovered 139 graves containing 106 bodies, believed to be Rohingyas, and 29 illegal immigrant detention camps deep in the jungles of Bukit Genting Perah and Bukit Wang Burma, a few hundred metres from the Malaysia-Thai border in Wang Kelian.

Malaysian authorities have prosecuted four foreigners linked to a trafficking syndicate, while the Thai authorities have charged 62 individuals, including nine civil servants.

On Wednesday, Suhakam released its report on the incident where it claimed that 170,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis were smuggled across the Malaysia-Thailand border, between 2012 and 2015. - Mkini