Fishing: 20 Vietnamese are fined RM2.9m
Published on: Wednesday, September 29, 2021
By:
Cynthia D Baga, Jo Ann Mool
Kota Kinabalu: A skipper and 19 crew from Vietnam were fined a total of RM2.9 million for illegal fishing in the country’s waters.The 20 Vietnamese aged between 19 and 51, admitted separately before Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus, after the charge against them was read by a Vietnamese interpreter via Zoom, Tuesday.
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The skipper was fined RM1 million in default 10 months’ jail, while the crew was fined RM100,000 each or spend eight months in prison.
The Vietnamese were found fishing illegally at 10.15am on April 15 this year on a foreign fishing vessel at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, Kudat.
The offence under Section 15(1)(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985 and punishable under Section 25(a) of the same Act and read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, provides for a fine of up to RM6 million for the vessel skipper and RM600,000 for each crew member of the vessel, on conviction.
During mitigation, all of the Vietnamese who were not represented, asked for a minimum sentence, saying they have families to look after and that they wanted to return to their hometown as soon as possible.
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The Vietnamese also extended their apology for their wrongdoing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurun Nazifah Muhammad Iyen urged the court to impose an adequate sentence on the Vietnamese on the grounds that their act could affect the habitat and ecosystem of the sea.
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Meanwhile, a 75-year-old man was sentenced to eight months’ jail on Tuesday for stealing a smartphone.
Sarail Manyuk pleaded guilty before Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles to stealing a smartphone belonging to Kalsum Sarawie at 1.18pm on Dec 31, 2020 at the Platinum Marketing Walter Filter Specialist in Putatan.
Sarail, who had on March 30 claimed trial to the charge, changed his plea to guilty when his case came up for mention on Tuesday.
Inspector Navind Kumar Vijayan informed the court that on the said day a man, later identified as Sarail, went into the premises on the pretext of buying a water dispenser and was later seen approaching the counter.
A few minutes later Sarail left and the complainant found her handphone placed at the counter missing and a check on the CCTV recording, found Sarail took the gadget stuffed it in his trouser pocket and walked away, the court heard.
Sarail was arrested on Feb 9 following a report lodged by the complainant.
He had committed an offence under Section 380 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to 10 years or fine, on conviction.
Unrepresented, Sarail requested leniency on the grounds that he has no job due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has seven grandchildren.
The court ordered him to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest and to be referred to the Immigration Department thereafter.
In another case, 12 people were penalised for committing drug-related offences.
Three of them - Loius Ton, Frederick Lee and Fazulani Gustin pleaded guilty to having syabu weighing 0.33gm, 0.16gm and 0.06gm, respectively between March 29 and Sept 4 in Sepanggar, Luyang and Inanam.
Louis and Lee were handed 12 months jail each while Fazulani was jailed 11 months.
They were charged under Section 12 (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 which provides for a fine of up to RM100,000 or up to five years jail or both, on conviction.
Meanwhile, Fazulani, Francis Gala, Azizul Natika, Fred Teo, Firdaus Jumaat, Setinlay Mori, Dolly Aman, Justin Liew, Nestol Gaspal and Mathew Charles admitted to taking syabu at separate locations here and in Penampang between Feb 19 and Sept 19.
Fazulani, Francis, Azizul, Fred, Justin and Nestol received six months jail each while the rest were fined RM2,200 or seven months each.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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