Bryan Christy

This story ran yesterday in Malaysia’s The Star:

Perhilitian officers transferred every 3 years to prevent collusion with poachers

By YUEN MEIKENG

KUALA LUMPUR: Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) officers are transferred to another place every three years to prevent them from colluding with wildlife smugglers, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas on Monday.

This practice came about in the heels of the case of international wildlife trader Anson Wong, who allegedly worked together with Perhilitan officers in smuggling animals.

“The standard operating procedures for Perhilitan have been changed so that wildlife trafficking can be contained.

“We realise that there are Perhilitan officers who may have been involved in Wong’s operations. We have conducted investigations but it has not been easy,” Uggah told the Dewan Rakyat when winding up the Budget 2013 debate at the committee stage.

He said “familiarity becomes a problem” when an officer has been in the same place for too long.

“The ministry is very concerned if there are any abuse of power and will ensure that our officers have a strong sense of integrity,” he said.

He said this when answering a question raised by Lim Guan Eng (DAP – Bagan) who asked whether the ministry had conducted a probe into allegations that Perhilitan officers conspired with Wong and (more…)

I have a post up on NationalGeographic.com regarding Anson Wong’s release.    And here is an interview in the Malay Mail.

I confess, my initial reaction to Anson Wong’s release yesterday was that of a lawyer:  the court’s decision to reduce Wong’s sentence was probably reasonable given the facts as presented.

Here is excellent and insightful commentary from Malaysia on the implications of Anson Wong’s release from Dr. Bill Schaedla of TRAFFIC SE Asia who correctly points out that there is more to the story than simply what reached the appellate court… 

The investigation and prosecution of this case also lends further support for Malaysia’s efforts to create a Green Court.

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