KOTA KINABALU: A MyPR holder was today sentenced to four years' jail by the High Court here for harbouring a smuggled migrant three years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Amelati Parnell imposed the sentence on Amir Abd Latip, 52, after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 26H (1) (a) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 punishable under Section 26H (1) of the same Act.
In sentencing the accused, Amelati among others held that the court viewed the crime as a very serious activity which the court needs to take into consideration.
She also took into consideration the rampancy of the nature of human-trafficking in the country and balanced it with the fact that the accused was a first-time offender.
Amir was arrested for harbouring a 14-year-old Filipino, knowing that the person was a smuggled migrant, at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Oct 11, 2018.
The offence provides imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine or both, upon conviction.
The facts of the case stated that the accused had assisted the smuggled migrant to fly from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur by buying an air ticket for him using a fake MyKad on Oct 11.
He also helped simplify the travel route for the said smuggled migrant in order to avoid being caught by the authorities.
The court ordered the accused to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest on Nov 7, 2018.
Deputy public prosecutor Rustam Sanip prosecuted while counsel PJ Perira represented the accused.