Graves at Wang Kelian: Malaysia seeks extradition of 10 suspects from Thailand
22 Jun 2023 05:10pm
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution said the request was made on January 6, 2017, following the shocking discovery of the temporary camps and graves in May 2015.
He said as a result of the discovery, the authorities of both Malaysia and Thailand conducted investigations to identify and locate the responsible parties.
After conducting the investigation, Malaysia had submitted an extradition request to the Thai government for the 10 individuals from the neighboring country in 2017.
"Throughout the six years, Malaysia and the Thai government have been making efforts to locate all of these individuals to proceed with the extradition process.
"As a result of the good cooperation between the two countries, four out of the ten individuals have been successfully located and presented before the Thai court for the purpose of extradition.
"The extradition case has gone through various stages in the Thai courts, and the Thai Appeal Court finally issued a detention order on the four individuals to be handed over to Malaysia," he said in a statement on Thursday.
Saifuddin said based on the order from the Thai Appeal Court, the handover of the four individuals was carried out on June 22.
He further said all of the individuals are now in Malaysia and will be presented before the Kangar Sessions Court in Perlis.
"The Malaysian government, in general, and the Home ministry, in particular, would like to express their utmost appreciation to the Thai government and all parties involved in ensuring the smooth extradition process for the Wang Kelian case," he said.
He said Malaysia sincerely hopes that such good cooperation would continue to track down other individuals involved and bring them before the courts for prosecution.
