PETALING JAYA: We need to invest in the technology, equipment, training and expertise as used by Australia in tracing and nabbing child sex offenders who use Malaysia as their base, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto (pix) said today.
She called for allocation of funds in the 2022 National Budget for the technology, equipment, training and expertise in putting an end to sexual violence against children in our own backyard and in the region after the arrest of Alladin Lanim.
“I read with a gasp and a sigh of relief on the nabbing of a Sarawakian man, also known as one of the ‘world’s most wanted child sex offender’ and worse that he was indulging in this diabolical filth, sexually violating and abusing children from the ages of a toddler to a teenager,” Kasthuri said in a statement.
“Alladin Lanim has been satisfying his maniacal hunger for the flesh of children for 14 years in Lundu, Sarawak, and sharing his filth for the satisfaction of other users on the dark web.”
He was arrested by the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and investigators who specialise in this field from the Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police, the same team behind the exposé that led them to the arrest of Richard Huckle who also preyed on vulnerable children who came from families that were in lower economic stature compared to the rest.
“Last year on August 3rd in an answer to my Parliamentary question to the Deputy Minister of Multimedia and Communication, Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin stated that ‘Malaysian airports do not have the technology that can scan for child pornography because there is a lack of funding for it’ and passed the buck to the Ministry of Finance,” Kasthuri said.
“The 2021 budget for the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia did not have any additional budget specifically for an investment of this scale that will bring great benefit for all children in Malaysia.
“And when a country like Malaysia prioritises and invests in the technology, equipment, training and expertise to be another frontliner in the region to combat all forms of violence against children, including sexual violence, it sends a strong message to our ASEAN counterparts and the world that the country is serious in this warfare against sexual predators.”
She pointed out that Huckle plagued Malaysia for about eight years from 2006 and should have been an eye opener for the enforcement agencies here to not to rest on their laurels and should have gotten to work on the get go on establishing and enforcing a partnership with the Australian enforcement team, particularly the AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police for training, to learn best practices and to invest in the equipment, technology and expertise in nabbing these beasts among us.
“But it has been seven years since Richard Huckle was caught – not in Malaysia, in spite of tip offs by the Australian police, but in Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom when he landed there for the Christmas holidays,” she said.
“Many questions arose on why he wasn’t caught here and the answers were many and repetitive. However, the silver lining in this is the introduction of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) that was passed in the Malaysian Parliament in 2017.
“Dismally, the arrest of Alladin Lanim through the relentless monitoring and observation of his movements on the dark web by the Australian enforcement team is applauded but how did he manage to continually do this, unbeknownst to the Malaysian police and for over a decade?”
