TAWAU: A bus driver was sentenced to seven years in prison for migrant trafficking activities in August last year.
High Court judge Dr Lim Hock Leng handed down the sentence after Jamal Lukman, 42, pleaded guilty to the charge.
The sentence is effective from the date of arrest on Aug 11, 2021.
Lim said the court took the offence committed by the accused as serious considering it is a matter of public interest and safety.
He added that two of the migrants had also tested positive for Covid-19.
Based on the charge sheet, the accused was charged with bringing seven Indonesian illegal immigrants, aged between four and 46-years-old, out to their country of origin using a four-wheel drive vehicle.
He committed the offence at the Esscom roadblock at KM143.5 Jalan Sapulut-Kalabakan, at 9.30am on Aug 11 last year.
He was charged under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007 (Act 670) which is punishable by imprisonment not exceeding 15 years and is also liable to a fine or both.
Prosecution was conducted by Immigration Department Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mohamad Arif Aizuddin Masrom while the accused was represented by lawyer Raymond Guok.
Earlier, the accused's lawyer had applied for a lenient sentence as it was his first offence. The lawyer said his client had repented and regretted his actions, apart from having to support a wife with three small children aged between nine months and nine years old.