Corpun file 14710

BruDirect.com, 12 December 2004

Child Kidnapper Gets Seven Years And Three Strokes

By Rol Ezam

Bandar Seri Begawan - A 38-year-old local man who kidnapped a five-year-old girl, outraged her modesty, stole two saloon cars and consumed 'Syabu' was sentenced to a total of seven years in jail and three strokes of the cane by the High Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to all charges.

"What you did to the helpless little girl was despicable. Despite being a father to four children of your own, you were heartless enough to subject her to such disgraceful conduct.

"Young children must be protected from the likes of you and I have no hesitation that a deterrent sentence must be passed to demonstrate abhorrence to such perverted conduct.

"I must also take into account the trauma and hurt you caused to the girl," said Judge Datin Paduka Hajjah Hayati before passing the sentence yesterday.

The defendants, Ali bin Hj Othman, previously worked as a gas cylinder distributor.

In his mitigation, the defendant told the court that he tried to look for a better job but was not successful.

He was divorced from his second wife and he claimed that the divorce and his poor paying job had turned him to drug abuse and stealing.

He further told the court that his first wife is also now asking for a divorce.

The defendant has a string of convictions, both for theft and drug abuse. He had been in and out of prison since 1991 to 2002. His latest convictions were in September 2004 for which he is currently serving a total of three years six months and four strokes for housebreaking offences.

The agreed facts stated that at before or about 5.30am, on August 11 this year, the defendant stole a Nissan Sunny car with registration number BH 6592 belonging to a Filipino man which was parked in the vicinity of the Religious Office in the capital.

The defendant was able to gain entry into the car using an old car key.

He then drove the car to the Kiarong Complex area where he saw bundles of newspapers that had been delivered outside a shop. He alighted from the car and stole some of these newspapers.

From here, he drove towards the nearby mosque and into Jalan Kiulap near to the Kiulap primary school.

At about 6.45 am on the same day, the defendant parked the car by the roadside near a food stall in the vicinity of Jalan Kiulap, behind RIPAS hospital.

The defendant observed a woman, the mother of the victim, who had parked her car in front of him, getting down buying some food.

The defendant then formed the intention to steal her car. He noticed that the engine was still running and that there was a child inside.

Nevertheless, he stole the car and drove away with the victim. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Corpun file 14756

BruDirect.com, 16 December 2004

Malaysian Man Jailed And Caned For Smuggling Meat

Bandar Seri Begawan – A foreign national was sentenced yesterday to four months imprisonment after failing to pay a $4,000 fine for bringing into the country frozen dubious meat weighing around 216 kilograms.

Azman bin Haji Samit, 20, a Malaysian, was earlier brought before the Bandar Seri Begawan Magistrate's Court under the Custom and Immigration Acts.

He also faced a three month jail sentence and three strokes of the cane under the Immigration Act for failing to produce any relevant document or passport when the arrest was made.

Officers from the Preventive and Intelligence Section of the Royal Customs and Excise and the Brunei Darussalam Halal Import Permit Issuing Board, Ministry of Religious Affairs, arrested him during their latest concerted efforts.

The operation was carried out at Ujong Jalan Kampong Lumapas area at half-past five (5.30) yesterday afternoon.

Azman, was detained after trying to smuggle into the country the Allana Fresh Frozen Meat, India product by using a basket locally known as 'takiding' through the jungle.

Twelve packets of frozen meat weighing 18 kilograms each were confiscated.

The man was later detained for further investigation.

The arrest was made following a tip-off from the public.

Once again, the public with any information related to smuggling activities can contact custom hotline 238-2422 and 871-4422. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei

Copyright © 1999-2004 Brudirect.com  All rights reserved.

Corpun file 14906

Borneo Bulletin, Bandar Seri Begawan, 31 December 2004

Tough new laws for deterring human traffickers

By M K Anwar

[emphases added]

The Order itself covers every aspect of the offence and any future cases. In short the Order criminalises such acts and protects the rights of others.

Section 4 (Offence of People Trafficking) of the Order states that any person who recruits, transports, transfers or receives any person or persons for the purpose of exploitation by one or more of the following means such as threat, use of force or coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability, giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000 imprisonment for a term of not less than 4 years but not exceeding 30 years and whipping.

Section 5 (Offence of Children Trafficking) states that any person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child by any means for the purposes of exploitation shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, imprisonment for a term of not less than 4 years but not more than 30 years and not less than 5 strokes of whipping.

Section 6 (Offence of Exploiting a Trafficked Person) states that any person who engages in or profits from the exploitation of a trafficked person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, imprisonment for a term of not less than 4 years but not exceeding 30 years and whipping.

For sections 4,5 and 6, it is stated that issue of consent of those being smuggled or trafficked shall not be a defence and considered irrelevant in court.

Under Section 7 (1) (Offence of People Smuggling) meanwhile, the order states that any person who engages in people smuggling, regardless of whether the smuggled person arrives in the receiving country, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years and whipping.

Section 8 (1) (Offence to Facilitate Stay of a Smuggled Person) states that any person who facilitates the continued presence of a smuggled person in a receiving country in order to obtain financial or other material benefit shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years and whipping.

It is stated that under Section 8(2), where a smuggled person is found at any premises or place, the occupier of such premises or shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have facilitated the continued presence of that person at such premises or place in order to obtain a financial or material benefit.

The safety of the victims or smuggled person is also protected under Section 9 of the Order. Anyone who engages in people smuggling where the smuggled person is subject to exploitation or the smuggled person is subjected to torture or to any other cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or if the life or safety of the smuggled person is endangered regardless of whether they arrives in the receiving country shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, imprisonment for a term not less than 4 years but not more than 30 years and minimum 5 strokes of whipping.

Under another section, those who are found to make, obtain, give, sell or possess a forged travel or identity document for the purpose of facilitating people trafficking or smuggling shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000, imprisonment term not exceeding 10 years or both. This comes under Section 11 for offence relating to forged travel or identity documents.

A fund will also be established under the provision of the new Order. The fund called the Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons Fund will be administered and managed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It will consist of cash contributed by the Governments, from fines collected and cash recovered under the new Order.

This fund will be used to finance the cost of repatriation of smuggled or trafficked victims, to promote awareness of this offence and as a reward for those who give information that lead to the capture of offenders or preventing such offences.

The Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons Order 2004 was enforced from December 20 with consent of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

It is hoped that the new order will act as a deterrent for future offenders and highlight the country's commitment to eradicating the serious crime.

Copyright © 2004 Brunei Press Sdn Bhd. All right reserved.