Kota Kinabalu: Eight people were jailed for entering the State illegally and overstaying in the State.
They were Vinsensius Veri, Simon Petrus, Rickhy Abdullah, Joni, Agustinus Prabu, Santo, Herman Darius and Batti Ambo, aged between 21 and 47.
All of them pleaded guilty separately before Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain, to the charge against them.
Vinsensius was jailed 12 months for overstaying in the State for one year and two months after his social visit pass expired on Nov 10, 2023.
Simon was sentenced to six months’ jail for staying in the State after his special pass expired on Dec 23, 2024 and overstayed for one month.
Both were detained on Jan 24, this year, in Kg Sinulihan, Inanam, during an operation carried out by Immigration Department.
The offence, under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, carries a fine of at least RM10,000, or a jail term of up to five years, or both, on conviction.
Meanwhile, for the other six, they were jailed four months each for entering the State without any identification documents.
The illegal immigrants were arrested separately at Penampang and Inanam in January this year after failing to produce their identification documents during an operation carried out by the Immigration Department.
During mitigation, all the illegal immigrants asked for leniency and to be returned to their hometowns as soon as possible and that the sentence to be served from the date of their arrests.
All of them were ordered to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest.
After completing their jail sentence, they were ordered referred to the Immigration Department for further action.
Immigration Department Prosecuting Officer Gressia Yolanda Ismail Uvaraj prosecuted the case.
