By Doreen Ling
KUCHING, April 22: The Magistrate’s Court here today dismissed an application by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to remand a female suspect in connection with a human trafficking case dating back to 2016.
According to the court proceedings document, the suspect was brought before Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali, where the remand application was read to her. Police sought to detain her under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
The application cited the following reasons for the remand:
- To locate another suspect, who is the female suspect’s husband (6.1)
- To collect her fingerprints and take her picture (6.2)
- To bring the investigating paper to the prosecutor’s office to accuse the suspect (6.3)
- If the suspect is freed, she will inform the other suspect of the police’s activities and interrupt the investigation (6.4)
The defence counsel, led by Shankar Ram and Teng Lee Kai, objected to the application, arguing that the alleged incident occurred over eight years ago and that investigations should have been concluded by then. It was also pointed out that the victim had already been sent back to Indonesia, noting the unexplained gap in the investigation.
Grounds 6.1 and 6.4 were dismissed by the defence counsel, who added that 6.2 should have been conducted when the female suspect was asked to accompany the police.
For 6.3, they argued that the investigation would have been completed, adding that investigating officer ASP Mohd Hafiz Lokman took over the case and that any delay could not be attributed to the subject.
The defence counsel further argued that the suspect has cooperated with the police and that the person allegedly responsible—the suspect’s husband which the victim referred to as ‘toke’—is not in Malaysia and is in China, claiming that the authorities were using the remand process unfairly because they could not locate him.
“To trace this person (male suspect), the prosecution can deploy various other methods like going through the Chinese and Malaysian embassies or issue a notice through Interpol to have him arrested,” said the defence counsel.
They added that their client (female suspect) has always been contactable and is not a flight risk, and that she has always been cooperative, or else she would have been remanded in 2016.
At the same time, they also pointed out a ‘hole’ which the prosecution could not close, citing a statement in the remand application which made it clear that they (prosecution) are aware that the victim knows that the male suspect is the female suspect’s husband and that he is in China.
“It is entirely wrong to remand (the female suspect) for any alleged offence under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007.
“The person that the prosecution should get, if any, for an offence under Section 14 (of the ATIPSOM Act), if such an offence is made out, is the husband and not the wife,” said the defence counsel.
Mohd Hafiz then confirmed that the victim had already been repatriated and that a new investigation paper was opened, maintaining that the suspect is listed as a ‘wanted person’ by the police. He also acknowledged that he only recently took over the case.
Following that, Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah ruled in favour of the defence and dismissed the remand application, directing the suspect to cooperate with the police as required.
According to the remand application, during an operation called ‘Op Pintas, on July 26, 2016, at around 9.35am, a police team headed to a house at Jalan Lapangan Terbang here.
Upon reaching the house, they met with the victim, an Indonesian woman, and asked her to open the gate and call for the owner of the house, following which another woman (female suspect) came forward. The police then instructed the victim to collect all her belongings in the house, witnessed by the female suspect, and followed the police for further action.
According to the victim, she claimed that she had worked for 13 years without receiving any pay and was not allowed to return to Indonesia, which caused her distress. The application also noted that the female suspect announced that her husband, known as ‘toke’ by the victim, was not in the country but in China.
Later, on April 21 this year, during ‘Op Kesan’ at around 10.35pm, a police team headed to Jalan Lapangan Terbang here to arrest the female suspect.
“Because the investigation could not be resolved within 24 hours, the police request that the suspect be in police custody for seven days,” said the application,” said the application. — DayakDaily
