Kota Kinabalu: Filipino Bengsi Jilhani, 40, of Kg Pondo, Pulau Gaya, pleaded guilty before magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie to committing MCO-related offences at 2.15pm on March 26 at the jetty of the general market here.
On the first and second counts, Bengsi was sentenced to 10 months’ jail each for obstructing Malaysian Volunteer Corps (Rela) officer, Nurhasan Sabahari, during the MCO operation and not complying with the order as instructed by the latter.
Bengsi was handed seven months’ jail on the third count of attempting to escape from police custody by smashing the rear mirror of a police van.
Stephanie ordered Bengsi to serve the jail term of the first and second counts, concurrently, from the date of his arrest and ordered the imprisonment sentence of the third count to run after he completed the earlier sentences.
Bengsi was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving the sentences.
Earlier, Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim, in presenting the facts of the case, said prior to the incident, Bengsi had gone to the market at 7am to sell fish with his friend and wanted to return home at 2pm.
Bengsi was not satisfied with the MCO, which scheduled boat ride to the island at 5pm and lost his temper, the court heard.
Bengsi approached the Rela officer with two wooden sticks and shouted at them, asking why they refused to let him return to Pulau Gaya.
The Rela members explained to him that according to the MCO, the boat ride to Pulau Gaya had been restricted to between 5pm and 7pm.
Bengsi was not satisfied and continued shouting, saying he was not afraid to die.
The police were called and Bengsi was nabbed and taken to the police station in a patrol van.
Bengsi broke the back window by smashing his head against it and tried to escape through the broken window but failed, said SFC Khairul, adding that the damage caused a loss of RM500.
Bengsi injured his head and arms in the process and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Counsel Lim Ming Zoong @ Lawrence, representing Bengsi on a pro bono basis, requested for his jail term to run concurrently.
Lim said Bengsi is married with two children, worked as a hawker and is the sole breadwinner of his family.
SFC Khairul urged the court to impose heavier sentence as Bengsi himself proclaimed “saya tidak takut mati (I’m not afraid to die)”, hence, he surely would not be afraid of serving a long sentence.
SFC Khairul said the order given by the Rela officer was made pursuant to current MCO and that it had been almost 10 days (at the time Bengsi was detained) that such order was made known to the public.
However, Bengsi acted in defiance, in the present case, the scheduled movement of ferry service from Kota Kinabalu to Pulau Gaya.
“The accused failed and refused to abide by the order, whereby the current situation put everyone at risk.
“Imagine if the authorised officer caved in and allowed the accused to board a ferry that day, chaos may have occurred. We might see a drastic increase in the number of people infected with Covid-19,” said SFC Khairul.
When asked by the court whether he had any document, Bengsi replied that he had a JKM document.
The first count against Bengsi was framed under Section 186 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or fine of up to RM10,000, or both, on conviction.
The second count under Section 22 (b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 carries a jail term of up to two years or fine, or both, on conviction.
The third count under Section 224 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years or fine, or both, on conviction.
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