PAPAR: The Sessions Court here jailed and fined 88 foreigners for committing immigration offences.
All the accused pleaded guilty before judge Azreena Aziz when their separate charges were read against them.
Fifty-seven men and 19 women were jailed for four and five months for entering the state illegally.
The court also ordered 42 out of the 57 men to be whipped once.
Each of them was charged under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act which carries a fine not exceeding RM10,000, or a jail term of up to five years, or both, and with whipping upon conviction.
A woman and seven men were fined RM10,000 each, in default, between four and five months’ jail for overstaying.
They were convicted under Section 15 (1) (c) of the Immigration Department 1959/1963 which carries a fine of not less than RM10,000 or a jail term of up to five years, or both, on conviction.
The court also jailed two women for two months and fined a man RM600, in default, one month’s jail for working without proper permit under Rule 39 (b) of the Immigration Act 1963.
Another woman, aged 23, was jailed for eight months for possessing a fake endorsement in her passport.
The offence comes under Section 56 (1) (l) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 and carries a fine of up to RM10,000 or a jail term of up to five years, or both, on conviction.
Police and Immigration officers arrested all the accused aged between 18 and 53 in Sipitang, Tenom, Keningau, Ranau, Kudat and in the city here between May 8 and June 27 this year.
They were also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
Prosecuting officers Shaiful Izuat Abd Shani, Norlyah Stoh and Juachim Jacob Marcus of the Immigration Department prosecuted all the cases.