KOTA KINABALU: A policeman was sentenced to four years in jail and fined RM35,000 for two counts of bribery by the Special Corruption Court here.
Sessions Court judge Abu Bakar Manat meted out the sentence to Corporal Donni @ Dainel Tinili, 47, after the latter was found guilty of asking and accepting bribes from a woman as an inducement not to take action against a man who had in his possession protected animals without a permit.
In his judgment, Abu Bakar held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against Donni.
On the first charge, Donni was sentenced to two years' jail and fined RM25,000 in default four months' jail for asking RM5,000 from a 54-year-old woman as an inducement not to take action against her 47-year-old brother, who was in possession of protected animals, which is an offence under Section 41(1) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
Donni committed the offence at the Central Lockup here about 5am on Aug 21, 2016.
On the second count, Donni was sentenced to two years' jail plus RM10,000 fine or another two months in jail for receiving RM2,000 from the woman for the same purpose at Taman City Park here between 1pm and 3pm on Aug 22, 2016.
The offences, under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same act, carry a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe received or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The court ordered Donni to serve the jail sentence concurrently from today, the date of his conviction.
However, he obtained a stay of execution pending an appeal to the High Court. The court ordered him to add another RM2,000 to his current bail deposit as one of the conditions for the stay.
Earlier, in seeking leniency, counsel Adam George Aludah, who represented Donni, told the court that the latter had served 25 years with the Royal Malaysia Police since 1997.
He said Donni, who was the sole breadwinner in his family, was suspended from his job due to the case.
Adam further told the court that Donni supports his two children, wife, and elderly parents.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Nartiah F. Mirchelle Sambatan urged for deterrent punishment to be imposed considering its seriousness and rampancy.
Nartiah said the accused had tarnished the image of the police and destroyed the community's trust.
"The accused has been with the police since 1997 and attached to the Central Lockup here to look after prisoners and detainees.
"As a policeman who has served for a long time, he is aware of the law and the consequences of breaking it. However, he still committed the crime. He had breached the trust given to him by the police and the community.
"In this case, the accused had manipulated a mother from a rural area," she said.