Ali Abdulloh (front second right), Muhamad Saripudin (centre second row), Suhantok (second right third row) and Juhedi (second right at the rear). Also seen is their counsel Farazwin (left third row).
KOTA KINABALU: Four Indonesian men, including a former police sergeant, were sentenced to 10 years jail by the High Court here yesterday for transiting through Malaysian waters to enter Southern Philippines to allegedly commit acts of terrorism last year.
Justice Dr Hj Alwi Hj Abdul Wahab imposed the sentence on Suhantok Shahrir, 31, from Bebras, Juhedi Jaya, 35, from Banten, ex-cop Muhamad Saripudin Ahmad, 38, from Ambon, and Ali Abdulloh Narawi, 31, from Jawa after they all pleaded guilty as charged under Section 130JA of the Penal Code, which is punishable with a jail term of up to 30 years and a fine, upon conviction.
In his decision, the judge held the view that the offence committed by all four accused persons was very serious in that they had transited Malaysian waters to enter Southern Philippines to allegedly commit acts of terrorism.
“The sentence to be imposed must reflect the seriousness of the offence and having considered the mitigation plea put up by the defence counsel and replied by the prosecution, I hereby sentence each of the accused to an imprisonment sentence of 10 years with effect from date of arrest on December 4, 2017,” Dr Hj Alwi ruled.
The four accused persons were arrested on December 4, 2017 after they tried to travel to Jolo through Sabah waters in the waters off Tanjung Aru in Sandakan in a boat with alleged intentions to commit acts of terrorism in Jolo.
The court ordered Suhantok, Juhedi, Muhammad Saripudin and Ali Abdulloh to serve their jail terms from the date of their arrest on December 4, 2017 and to be referred to their country of origin, Indonesia, after completing their jail sentences.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Izhanuddin Alias told the court that the four accused persons were arrested on December 4, 2017 and handed over to the Special Branch office in Sandakan for further investigation.
Upon investigation, it was found that the accused persons were allegedly Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF) by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom). They had entered Sabah illegally and had no valid travel documents.
In pleading for a lenient sentence, the Indonesian Consulate appointed counsel, Farazwin Haxdy, representing all the accused persons, urged the court to impose a short custodial sentence on her clients to count from the date of their arrests.
Farazwin explained that her clients were nabbed in a boat while on their way to Jolo transiting Sandakan waters, but no weapons were found on them. Based on the police seizure record, she said, items found were only clothes, cellphones and cash.
The counsel informed the court that her clients were committed to go to Jolo to give humanitarian aid and not commit acts of terrorism as supported by exhibits found on them which were just garments and money. She said further that her clients had never taken any oath to join any terrorist group and they got information on what was going on in Jolo only by reading about it from the social media, and urged the court to also consider that all her clients are married with children in Indonesia.
She added that when they were in Sabah, her clients had worked at plantations in Tenom and in Keningau and they had already served five months jail for entering Sabah illegally.
In reply, Mohd Izhanuddin rebutted the pleadings and urged the court to impose a heavier sentence on the accused persons to serve as a lesson to them and would-be offenders in the future.
He stressed that by pleading guilty to the charge did not mean that they were entitled to a light sentence, as, in imposing the punishment, the court should strike balance between public interest and the interest of the accused in this case.
He further argued that the accused persons had committed a serious crime which Malaysia will not tolerate and added that the accused persons had used Malaysia as their transit hub to go to Jolo where their acts will cause harm to innocent lives there.