Jasnih (second right) talks to his counsel Hamid (right) and the defence team outside the court on Friday.
KOTA KINABALU (Oct 8): The High Court here on Friday freed a man from two charges of trafficking in two undocumented Filipinos between 2017 and 2018.
Judicial Commissioner Leonard David Shim acquitted and discharged Jasnih Ot Ali @ Mohd Alli, 55, without calling for the latter’s defence.
In the judge’s reserved ruling, he ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against Jasnih.
Both the charges against Jasnih were under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
The indictment provides for a jail term of up to 15 years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
On the first to the second charges, Jasnih, who worked as an airport enforcement staff, was accused of trafficking a man and a woman aged 20 and 55 respectively, at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport here at 5.15pm between February 2017 and Oct 24, 2018.
Counsel Hamid Ismail represented Jasnih.