Mara: Nur Fitri can be deported within a month

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian student in London, who was sentenced to jail for possessing 30,000 child pornographic materials, can be deported in the next three to four weeks, says Majlis Amanah Rakyat.

Mara, which gave a loan for maths student Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, 23, disputed British media reports that he was jailed for five years, claiming that it was just a nine-month sentence.

The sentence was backdated to November when he was first arrested, meaning Nur Fitri only had to spend another four months in jail, Mara said in a statement yesterday.

“Based on Visa and Immigration laws in the United Kingdom, a person who has served two-thirds of his prison sentence can be deported back to his country. This means he can be sent home in the next three to four weeks,” Mara said.

Mara said it had suspended the study loan soon after Nur Fitri was arrested on charges of possession of indecent images and videos of children, with intent to distribute them.

British newspapers claimed that Nur Fitri, who studied at Imperial College London, was busted in his bedroom in Queensborough Terrace where they found him on his laptop, sitting next to a life-sized mannequin of a boy.

He was reportedly jailed five years on April 30 after pleading guilty to 13 offences.

Mara education extension director Abdul Halim Abas, when asked about the disparity between the nine-month term compared with the five-year sentence as reported in British press, said: “Yes, he was sentenced to five years but we are hoping he will come back in weeks. Let’s not focus on this.”

The Mara statement noted that Nur Fitri, who has been studying there since 2012, should pay back the amount he owed.

In Kampar, Nur Fitri’s hometown, residents at a village there were speechless upon learning about his conviction.

One elderly woman claimed that Nur Fitri’s parents, a retired hospital driver and a housewife, and other family members had not been seen since Friday night.

At the home of a relative, someone believed to be Nur Fitri’s brother-in-law, said: “Only his parents can comment about this. I should not have opened the gate. I’m sorry.”