KUCHING: The High Court here granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) to an immigration officer charged with smuggling 20 Indonesian migrants into the country two years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Zaleha Mohd Yusuf Pan issued the order after allowing the application from the prosecution to withdraw the charge against Mohamad Farihan Abdullah, 43.
The decision followed a representation submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) by Farihan through his counsels, Steven Beti and Gerald Empaling Donald, seeking for the charge to be withdrawn.
In the representation, his legal team argued there was insufficient evidence linking him to the offence.
According to the charge, Farihan, a civil servant working for 13 years, was accused of smuggling in 20 Indonesian migrants – 10 men and 10 women aged between 23 and 50 – while on duty at the Tebedu Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex at around 9:00 am on February 7, 2023.
He was charged under Section 26B of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Act 670), which carries a jail term of up to 20 years, and a fine, upon conviction.
If convicted under aggravated circumstances, the section also provides for life imprisonment or a minimum of five years’ jail, and whipping.
Deputy public prosecutor Kong Siew Chuo appeared for the prosecution.
