Five Viet fishermen jailed for illegal entry
Published on: Thursday, June 25, 2020
By: Cynthia D Baga
Kota Kinabalu: Five Vietnamese fishermen were jailed eight months each for entering the State illegally.Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz meted out the sentence to Mai Van Nguyen, 41, Vo Van Phuong, 36, Tran Van Thang, 27, Trang Van Ho both, 27, and Nguyen Van Tan, 31, after they pleaded guilty separately to the charge against them.
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The five were arrested after failing to produce their identification documents to the authority at 1.30pm on Nov 11, 2019 on a boat at the Pulau Mengalum waters, near here.
The offence under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 provides a fine of up to RM10,000 or a jail term of up to five years or whipping, on conviction.
During mitigation, the Vietnamese asked for leniency saying they had been under remand for almost seven months.
They informed the court that they wished to return to their hometown as soon as possible to see their families.
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The Vietnamese also applied for no whipping to be given to them.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Muhammad Fitri Wan Azizan from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence by taking into consideration on the Malaysian water sovereignty and rampancy of the case.
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After serving the jail sentence, the court ordered the Vietnamese to be referred to the Immigration Department for their biometrics data to be recorded before deportation.
The court ordered the Vietnamese to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest.
Meanwhile, a woman and a man were sent to prison for five years for taking syabu repeatedly.
Rodziah Matnun and Mohd Hadli admitted to taking the drug separately on Dec 4, 2019 and Feb 29, after their urines tested positive for drug.
Mohd Hadli was also handed a stroke of the cane.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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