.JPG "Tun Arifin Zakaria (left) arrives at the Home Ministry for the Wang Kelian RCIu00e2u20acu2122s first hearing in Putrajaya April 17, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Miera Zulyana")
PUTRAJAYA, April 17 — The public hearing by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on human trafficking and mass graves in Wang Kelian begins today.
It is held at the Home Ministry’s Dewan Gemilang here, which has been converted into a court room.
The hearing will also be held tomorrow and on April 22.
Former Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria is heading the seven-member RCI, with former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai as deputy chairman.
The other members are former Head of Prosecution in the Attorney General’s Chambers Datuk Noorbahri Baharuddin; former Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail; former Head of Research in the Attorney-General’s Chambers Datuk Junaidah Abdul Rahman, former Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Datuk Nazirah Hussin and former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been reported to have said that the report by RCI would be submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In 2015, the country and the world were shocked over the discovery of mass graves and several transit camps in Wang Kelian linked to human trafficking activities, where a total of 147 graves with 130 human skeletons were found, which later led to the arrest of 44 foreigners.
The tragedy which involved victims from the ethnic Rohingya community from Myanmar and Bangladesh also attracted the attention of the international community. — Bernama
