Brunei: Four Malaysians jailed for illegal entry, escaping quarantine

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 4 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Four Malaysians were sentenced to jail, whipping and ordered to settle fines by the Magistrate’s Court on Thursday (Sept 3) after they pleaded guilty to charges of illegal entry and escaping a mandatory self-isolation order.

It was the Malaysian police who arrested the quartet on August 25 and handed them over to the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF). They had to undergo a renewed self-isolation period which they completed on Sept 2.

Ngui Kuek Khian, 38, will be serving 19 months’ jail with three canings, Faizal bin Hidup, 20, and Mazlan bin Kipli, 36, will serve eight months’ jail with three canings, while Nurul Huda binti Ahad, 31, will be serving 11 months’ jail.

The defendants confirmed their inability to pay the fines, resulting in the total jail time they each will be serving.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Pengiran Hajah Nor ‘Azmeena binti Pengiran Haji Mohiddin revealed in court that the quartet were first arrested by Customs officers in a raid at a house on Jalan Kuala Lurah for suspicion of customs offences on August 12. They were handed over to the immigration enforcement team when officers found nothing related to customs offences.

However, they failed to produce travel documents.

It was found that they had entered Brunei illegally and Ngui being a prohibited immigrant.

The following day, all the defendants were placed under the mandatory 14-day isolation period at the Games Village in Berakas.

At 9am on August 23, a personnel manning the facility found that all of the defendants were not in their rooms and suspected that they had escaped through a gate behind a building block which had been damaged.

It was on August 25 when the Malaysian police arrested the defendants and handed to Brunei that they started the mandatory self-isolation period and completed it on September 2.

Magistrate Mohammad Marzuqi bin Sabtu presided over the case. - Borneo Bulletin/Asian News Network