Kota Kinabalu: A 42-year-old Filipino was sentenced to three months’ jail and ordered to be caned once by the Sessions Court, here, for staying in the State illegally.
Unemployed, Remy Umrah pleaded guilty to the charge before High Court Deputy Registrar Dana Arabi Wazani, who sat Sessions Court Judge, Thursday.
Remy was found to have committed the offence at 5.40pm on Oct 10 this year in front of a house at Kg Petagas Putatan, for having no valid identification documents to enter the country.
The charge under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act carries a jail term of up to five years or a fine of up to RM10,000, or both, upon conviction.
At the early proceedings, the court did not record Remy’s plea on the grounds of the current condition in the Kepayan prison.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nur Faezah Jafry informed the court on the prosecution’s reason for charging Remy on Thursday was that he has an ongoing case which is still under investigation under Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape and that the alleged victim’s medical report is still pending.
Hence the prosecution wants to keep Remy in prison and that for the moment, the prosecution decided to charge him under Section 6(1)(c), said the prosecution.
The court then proceed to take Remy’s plea after a short adjournment to check on the circular on the court part about the outbreak in prison.
Remy who was not represented, requested for leniency while the prosecution applied for an adequate sentence.
Dana ordered Remy to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest.
Remy was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department thereafter.
