Check every Pakistani: CJ
Published on: Thursday, March 26, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: You see them just about everywhere in town and the Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum wants the authorities to run a check on the documents held by every Pakistani in the State.Curious about the growing numbers in Sabah, he called on especially the Immigration and National Registration Departments to determine if their papers are in order."So many of them (Pakistanis) in the State…we do not know whether they are holding a genuine document or otherwise.
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"I am keen to cut the perception that it is easy for foreigners to enter and stay in the State with improper documents," he said, Wednesday, during the revision application by the prosecution against the sentence imposed on five Pakistanis for using visas and social visit passes obtained with false particulars.Their dates in court followed investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on a visa-for-money scam involving immigration personnel.Altogether eight immigration personnel were roped in during the probe along with many Pakistanis, several of whom have since admitted to having obtained their visas with false particulars that they were married to local women.During the proceedings, Malanjum told the Pakistanis not to simply enter the State if they do not have proper documents.
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"Don't come to Sabah if you do not have valid documents… tell your fellows or write a letter about this…tell them that Sabah is 'neraka' (hell)," he said in discouraging them against coming to the State illegally.Malanjum, in stating that some of the Pakistanis might be involved in human trafficking, queried why so many Pakistanis come to the State instead of to the peninsula or Sarawak.
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Towards this end, he wondered whether there was a syndicate bringing Pakistanis to Sabah or whether people in authority have manipulated the immigration system.MACC's Deputy Public Prosecutor Nik Syahril Nik Ab Rahman, who was present during the proceedings, nodded in agreement.Malanjum then asked each of the Pakistanis how they had obtained the documents and who were the persons behind and involved in helping them get the documents.The Pakistanis mentioned the names of one Bakiah, Amir, Sherahman, Iftihar Syercarda and Idrish. On hearing this, Malanjum asked the MACC to check and trace the persons mentioned.Malanjum thereafter enhanced the sentence of Sohrab Khan Habib, 22, from three months' jail to a year and that of Sartaj Khan, 22, Iqbal Hussain Gul Wazir, 37, Saleem Nawab, 32, and Ibrar Khan Ibrahim Khan from three months' jail to 18 months.Malanjum, however, set aside the fine of RM10,000 or a month's jail imposed on each of the Pakistanis but maintained the order for the Pakistanis to be referred to the Immigration Department upon completing their jail sentences.He asked why they chose Sabah and not the peninsula or Sarawak and the Pakistanis told him that they found it easy to 'cari makan' (make a living) in Sabah.The Pakistanis who worked in the State as clothing and bread vendors also told Malanjum that some of their fellow citizens had advised them to come to Sabah.When asked by Malanjum whether they were aware that the particulars on their visas and social visit passes were fake, they said they were but because they had paid the person who helped them get the documents, they just used the documents as genuine papers.One of them, Ibrar claimed that he met a man named Idris, believed to be an immigration agent, who offered to help him get the visa and also look for a job in the State for a fee of RM1,000.When he realised that the particulars regarding his wife were false, Ibrar told Idris that he wanted to make a complaint to the Immigration Department but Idris threatened that if he did so, he would also end up in prison.Meanwhile, Iqbal claimed that on the day he was arrested by the MACC at Menumbok, he was on his way to Labuan to fly to Kuala Lumpur and thereafter to Pakistan. On being asked by Malanjum whether the immigration officers at Menumbok checked his document, Iqbal said they checked but let him through.According to Iqbal, some of his friends also used similar documents and also claimed that one Bakia forged the particulars regarding their wives on seven visas.The Pakistanis also told Malanjum some of the Pakistanis who had helped them obtain the documents had since returned to their country. DPP Nik Syahril asked for the sentence imposed by the lower court to be enhanced submitting that the sentences were inadequate as the offence was very serious as it involved national interest.In enhancing the sentence, Malanjum said a heavy sentence should be given as a message and warning to other foreigners not to simply use forged documents to stay in the State. The five Pakistanis were on Feb 27 and 28 sentenced to three months' jail and fined RM10,000 or a month's jail each after they admitted to using the fake documents as genuine items.The charge stated that the particulars regarding their wives were false as the women mentioned in their application forms were not their actual wives and that they did not know the women nor ever met them.They were found using the documents which were issued by the Lahad Datu Immigration Department between Feb 5 and 11 this year.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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