By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Jan 14: The Sessions Court here discharged and acquitted a master of a fishing vessel and two of his crew who were charged with illegally fishing in Malaysian waters.
Sessions Court Judge Mohd Taufik Mohd Yusoff ruled that the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.
He ordered the accused to be discharged and acquitted and for them to be handed over to the Immigration Department for deportation.
Nguyen Van Dai, Nguyen Phuoc Thuen and Ngo Hoai Hau were charged with engaging in fishing activities in Malaysian fisheries water at about 5.30 am on March 24, 2019 without any authorisation that permits under any international fishery agreement in force between the Government of Malaysia and the Government of Vietnam and without any permit issued by Director General of Fisheries Malaysia under Section 19 of the Fisheries Act 1985.
They were charged under paragraph 15(1)(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985, read together with subsection 24(1) of the Fisheries Act 1985 and Section 34 of the Penal Code and punishable under paragraph 25(a) read together with paragraph 52(1)(a)(i) and (ii) of the same Act. — DayakDaily
