Viet fishermen fined RM530,000
Published on: Tuesday, July 14, 2020
By: Cynthia D Baga
Kota Kinabalu: Five Vietnamese fishermen were fined a total of RM530,000 for using fake registration number on their fishing vessel.Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus handed the sentence to skipper, Mai Van Nguyen, 41 and crews, Vo Van Phuong, 36, Tran Van Thang, 27, Tran Van Ho, 27 and Nguyen Van Tan, 31, who pleaded guilty to the charge against them on Monday.
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Mai was fined RM250,000 or four months’ jail while the crews were ordered to pay fine of RM70,000 in default three months’ jail each.
The Vietnamese were found using the fake registration on the vessel at 1.30am on Nov 11, 2019 at Pulau Mengalum waters, near here.
The offence under Section 14(3)(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 (Act 317) and punishable under Section 25(a) of the same Act and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for a fine of up to RM6 million for the skipper and RM600,000 for each crew, on conviction.
During mitigation, the Vietnamese asked for leniency saying that they were under remand for eight months.
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They told the court that they also came from poor families and wished to be deported to their country as soon as possible.
However, Prosecuting Officer Aimi Najiha Abdullah of Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), urged the court to impose a heavy sentence on the grounds that the punishment under the Act had been amended to heavier and this showed that the offence is very serious.
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Aimi said the use of fake registration number on their fishing vessel could threat security on national waters.
The court ordered the Vietnamese to be referred to the Immigration Department for their biometrics data to be recorded before deportation.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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