KANGAR: The High Court here today sentenced a Thai national to five year's jail after he pleaded guilty to the smuggling of an immigrant at Wang Kelian between 2014 and 2015.
Judicial Commissioner Abu Bakar Katar meted out the sentence on Biau Wong Chumpo, 45, after the accused changed his plea to a charge of smuggling Bangladeshi migrant Md Tifajir Husin at Bukit Genting Perah and Bukit Wang Burma in Wang Kelian between October 2014 and May 2, 2015.
Abu Bakar ordered the jail term to run from the date of Biau’s arrest.
Clad in a green prison uniform, the accused nodded his head when the sentence was read to him in Thai by a court interpreter.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas and Afzainizam Abdul Aziz prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented.
Biau was convicted under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007, punishable underthe same section, which carries a maximum 15 years' jail, a fine, or both.
Biau had in May last year claimed trial when he was charged with three other immigrants.
However, Biau changed his mind and opted to plead guilty after one of the victims identified him in the dock during the trial proceedings.
In May last year, police had exhumed 106 bodies from 139 shallow graves in 28 illegal detention camp sites in Wang Kelian, located several hundred metres away from the Malaysia-Thai border, during Ops Wawasan Khas carried out by Bukit Aman police.
The bodies are believed to be that of Rohingya who were seeking refuge after fleeing from their homeland in Myanmar.