KANGAR: Two Myanmar nationals were sentenced to three years' imprisonment by the High Court here today for smuggling of migrants at Wang Kelian between 2014 and 2015.
Judicial Commissioner Abu Bakar Katar ordered Shahidullah @ Syahidullah and Momotin @ Dus Mohamad, both 18, to serve the jail term from the date of their arrests which was in 2014.
Abu Bakar meted out the sentence against the accused after they pleaded guilty to the charges read to them in Rohingya language by the court interpreter.
Both of the accused, who were unrepresented, had smuggled a Myanmar migrant named Mohd Belai at Bukit Wang Burma at 5.30am between August 2014 and March 10, 2015.
In mitigation, Syahidullah, who was clad in green t-shirt and blue sarong, appealed for a lighter sentence. He claimed he was just an agent and was forced to commit the act by others or risked being beaten up.
The same court also saw Dus, clad in white t-shirt and jeans, appealing for lighter sentence and like Syahidullah, also claimed he was just an agent and has no intention to do the job.
He too did not possess any documentation when entering the country.
Deputy public prosecutors Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas and Nadia Zulkefli prosecuted.
Afzainizam, who led the prosecution, appealed to the court to consider a deterrent sentence which could serve as a lesson to the accused as well as others.
He said although they were just agents, their role have a huge impact especially on the victims.
The accused were convicted under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007, punishable under the same section, which carries a maximum 15 years' jail, fine, or both.
In May last year, police had discovered a total of 139 graves, 106 bodies, believed to be Rohingyas and 28 illegal immigrant detention camps in the areas, about a few hundred metres away from Malaysia-Thai border in Wang Kelian, during Ops Wawasan Khas conducted by Bukit Aman police.