The accused is escorted out of the courtroom at the Kuching Court Complex. — Photo by Kentigern Minggu
KUCHING (Aug 5): An Indonesian man was sentenced by the High Court here today to two years and nine months’ imprisonment for smuggling eight migrants from his home country.
Judicial Commissioner Zaleha Mohd Yusuf Pan meted out the sentence against the accused, 34, after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007.
This section provides for a maximum prison sentence of five years, a fine of up to RM250,000, or both upon conviction.
The court also ordered that his sentence take effect from the date of his arrest, July 22, 2023.
The accused committed the offence beside a shop premises along Jalan Batu Kawa here on the said date, at about 9.01pm.
According to the facts of the case, a police team stopped a black Perodua Alza travelling beside the shop and found that the driver, later identified as the accused, was transporting eight other individuals to an undisclosed location.
Further investigation revealed that all the individuals were Indonesian nationals.
A report from the Malaysian Immigration Department stated that two of the eight had no record of entering or exiting Malaysia, while the remaining six did.
However, their travel records indicated that they had overstayed in the country.
The two were later charged under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while the remaining six were charged under Section 15(1)(c) of the same Act.
All of the migrants have since been sentenced accordingly.
Therefore, the accused was found to have committed an offence under Section 26J of the Atipsom Act 2007.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Afiq Safly Nor Kazly prosecuted the case, while the accused was represented by lawyer Ranbir Singh Sangha.