PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today upheld the 10 years jail sentence on a taxi driver who pleaded guilty to smuggling 24 Indonesian illegal immigrants.
This follows the Court of Appeal’s three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk Wira Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and Datuk Nordin Hassan in dismissing Zulkifli Muhamad’s appeal for reduction of his jail term.
Zulkifli, 57, pleaded guilty in the High Court to smuggling the illegal immigrants at Ladang Kurnia, Bandar Penawar, Kota Tinggi, Johor at 8 pm on April 11, 2020, and was sentenced to 10 years in jail, which to begin from the date of his arrest on April 16, 2020.
He was charged in the Johor Bahru High Court with six other persons for the offence. Zulkifli and four others pleaded guilty to the charge, while two other accused persons claim trial.
According to the facts of the case, Zulkifli transported the Indonesians from a house used as a transit place before sending them back to their country in a boat after they pay a certain amount of money.
All the Indonesians were charged in court for not having valid documents and were each sentenced to two months in jail. They were deported back to their country after completing the jail sentence.
Zulkifli was represented by lawyer Bustaman Menon Abdul Hamid Menon while deputy public prosecutor How May Ling appeared for the prosecution.-Bernama
