KUCHING: The High Court here sentenced an Indonesian man to two years in prison for smuggling a fellow national into Sarawak via Jalan Biawak-Lundu in February.
Judge Datuk Farid Gohim Abdullah meted out the sentence to 33-year-old Salim Jono after he pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
Salim was charged with smuggling a 42-year-old male migrant into the state using a sport utility vehicle (SUV) along Jalan Biawak-Lundu at around 5.05 pm on Feb 28.
According to the case facts, a police team stopped a suspicious Daihatsu Xenia SUV heading from the border area towards Lundu.
Upon inspection, Salim was found to be the driver, accompanied by another Indonesian national named Rabudin.
Investigations found that the passenger failed to produce a valid travel document to enter Malaysia, and that Salim was responsible for smuggling the migrant into Sarawak.
It was also found that Salim had acted as a transporter (‘tekong’) to illegally bring Indonesians into Malaysia.
Deputy public prosecutors, Ayuna Yusoff and Muhammad Afiq Safly Norkazly prosecuted the case while Salim was unrepresented.
