GEORGE TOWN – Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has been urged to expedite the RM13 million funding for 100 new officers at Bukit Aman’s D11 division for sexual, women and children investigations.
Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said the purpose of the funds is to assist in the battling of sexual crimes against children as announced by Zafrul when tabling the 2022 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat on October 29, 2021.
The DAP deputy secretary for international affairs and board member of Penang Women’s Development Corporation also said the lack of manpower at the D11 division made it difficult to vet and investigate over 93,000 IP addresses containing child pornography shared by international enforcement agencies.
“Yesterday, I read in horror that the Malaysian police received 93,368 IP addresses suspected of containing and or sharing child pornography from 2016 to 2022 spanning 6 years.
“These addresses had been given by international enforcement agencies such as the International Criminal Police Organization, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation,” she said in a statement issued today.
Kasturi said in the past, information about child sexual offenders operating in Malaysia had been given to the Malaysian authorities by the Australian and the UK enforcement agencies because there was a lacuna in the law on nabbing child sex offenders.
These criminals use the dark web as a means for their business, commerce and trade.
“Not surprising that there was no statement by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun, a cosmetic leader and nothing yet from the chest-thumping Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin or Tengku Zafrul, maverick on an issue which should have triggered a reaction by all three of them,” she said
Kasturi added that over six years, only 103 IP addresses were vetted and investigated, leading to 50 individuals being arrested.
“There is no news on the charge and if they have been convicted. A meagre 0.11% of the total number of IP addresses containing and or sharing child pornography.
“With only three investigating officers in the Malaysian Internet Crime Against Children (MICAC) D11 investigation unit to cover the whole of Malaysia, it is no wonder we have been moving at a snail’s pace to nab these monsters in the bud.
“I commend the honesty and transparency of Bukit Aman’s Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (D11) principal assistant director Siti Kamsiah Hassan to admit and concede shortcomings of the police force in the war against child pornography, the buck cannot stop there.
“According to Siti Kamsiah, the report had already been submitted in March this year on D11’s planned use of the allocation but there is no news yet on RM13 million allocation and we are entering the mid of 2022 in another two weeks’ time.
“The RM13 million and 100 staff would see the setting up of Malaysian Internet Crime Against Children (MICAC) in each police contingent with at least one investigating officer in each contingent instead of three now managing reports, vetting and investigations for the whole country.
“The situation in Malaysia has become so dire that international enforcement agencies are offering to cooperate with the police here to further enhance enforcement to combat such activities and this should stir the conscience of lawmakers and ministers here to do the right thing for the safety of our children from the hands of the syndicate.
“This honest and genuine concern by Siti Kamsiah of the RM13 million fund to strengthen and intensify the work of MICAC and D11 must be rewarded and addressed immediately by releasing the money to the division and not by virtue of a show cause letter demanding an explanation why her concerns were exposed in the press instead of using internal channels.
“It cannot be clearer than this that we are digging our own graves for every minute spent on red-tape, bureaucracy and endless protocols and procedures at the cost and expense of our children.
“Ditch the ‘government knows best’ attitude and act promptly to alarm bells when highlighted by our men and women in blue before it is too late,” she added. – The Vibes, May 16, 2022
