KLANG: A married couple claimed trial at the Sessions Court here Friday (Oct 24) to a charge of trafficking an Indonesian woman last week.
The duo was jointly accused of trafficking the 47-year-old domestic worker named Seri for the purpose of forced labour exploitation, which also resulted in her suffering serious injuries.
For the alleged crime, electronics company director Azhar Mat Taib, 59, and his homemaker spouse Zuzian Mahmud, 59, were both slapped with Section 13(a) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
The charge comes with life imprisonment, or a jail term of not less than five years, and whipping upon conviction.
They had allegedly committed the offence at a house in Seri Kembangan here on October 19.
During her mitigation, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Ayuni Jamri, who appeared with her colleague Norhidayah Abdullah Sani, proposed that Azhar and Zuzian not be granted bail but suggested RM20,000 each with one surety if the court decides to grant bail.
Sha also proposed additional conditions for the couple to surrender their passports to the court, as well as being prohibited from approaching or harassing prosecution witnesses.
Defence counsel G.S Gabriel, meanwhile, appealed for a minimum bail given that Azhar was a heart patient with the responsibility of supporting three children and his wife.
Gabriel, who agreed with the additional conditions proposed by the DPP, said Azhar and Zuzian were not a flight risk and they had cooperated with the police and had no previous criminal record.
He also told the court that the couple’s youngest child was still reading law in the United Kingdom and Zuzian also suffered from a slipped disc.
Judge Mohd Sabri Ismail set bail at RM20,000 each and imposed the additional conditions proposed by the DPP.
He also fixed Nov 28 for the case to be mentioned.
