KOTA KINABALU: A Judge told Alice Jabin, a Dusun in her 20s, that he wasn’t sure whether the Police and the Immigration Department would compensate her for locking her up for weeks on suspicion of her being an illegal immigrant.
“This case has brought ruin to you as you have been detained for weeks,” said Judge Indra Ayub who freed her after the Prosecution confirmed that she was a Malaysian and withdrew the charge of illegally entering Sabah.
Alice, who was accompanied by her family, did not respond to the Judge’s remarks.
When the Judge asked the Prosecution why no one contacted Alice’s family, the reply was that the family could not be contacted, presumably immediately.
Prosecuting Officer Inspector Syahrin Ali informed the Court that he had received instructions from the Deputy Public Prosecutor’s office for Alicia to be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
Syarin told the Court that Alice was arrested on Oct 22 when she could not produce her MyKad as demanded by the Police. Apparently, her family kept her MyKad fearing that “she would run away from them”.
He said that her family later produced her MyKad and the National Registration Department confirmed it belonged to Alice. The onus was on her to produce her MyKad, the Prosecution told the Court. “The burden is on her to prove that she was Malaysian since she was not carrying her MyKad when stopped by police.”
The Judge held that since the fingerprints on the MyKad and the picture matched Alice, the Court should free her from the charge under Section 6 (1) ( c) of the Immigration Act.
The Prosecution had no objections.
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