Call for probe into baby-for-sale ring

A LAWMAKER wants a thorough investigation conducted over a baby-for-sale syndicate that has been in operation since 2012.

Sim Tze Tzin (PKR-Bayan Baru) said he was shocked that no one was prosecuted although police uncovered the syndicate last November.

“Eight suspects were arrested but seven were released and only one charged with an immigration offence.

“Four months have since passed and yet no one has been charged over the incident,” he told reporters in Parliament yesterday.

Sim said the case was serious as it involved corruption and the likelihood of falsification of documents by National Registration Department officials linked to the syndicate.

He said weaknesses in adoption laws and red tape were among the reasons cited by Unicef and non-government bodies here for the existence of baby-for-sale syndicates.

“It is good that laws to protect children were tabled in Dewan Rakyat today.

“However, we must go a step further and also have laws to protect our babies,” he said, suggesting amendments to Registration Adoption Act and Adoption Act.

In a written reply to Sim, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said a syndicate selling babies for between RM3,500 and RM6,700 each since 2012 were uncovered following investigations.

Dr Ahmad said police launched investigations based on an Al-Jazeera documentary MalaysiaBabies For Sale last November.

Eight suspects, three men and five women, were arrested in raids at private clinics in Klang and Puchong including four homes in Seremban and Selangor.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said seven suspects were released while one was sentenced to seven months jail for an immigration offence.

He said investigations were still ongoing with the case referred to the Public Prosecutor. of

It is good that laws to protect children were tabled in Dewan Rakyat today. Sim Tze Tzin