KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The 11 Chinese citizens of Uighur ethnicity who were charged with entering the country illegally have submitted a representation to the Attorney General's Chambers for a review of the charge against them.

Lawyer Muhamad Raimi Ab Rahim, who is representing the men informed the court of the matter when the case came up for mention before magistrate Wong Chai Sia today.

"We submitted the representation yesterday and are awaiting their decision,” he said.

The court then set July 25 for case management.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Najwa Bistamam.

On April 24, Zakaria Arman, Salehudin Ali, Jaefar Amin, Osman Abbas, Alim Osman, Asen Ziyali, Taher Kasim, Ibrahim Rexiti, Nurudin Muhammad, Abdul Kader and Yusof Ahmed, aged between 20 and 40 were charged with entering Malaysia without valid travel documents.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at the vicinity of the Sentul police station here at 10.50am on January 31.

The charge, under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amendment 2002), carries a maximum fine of RM10,000 or a jail term of up to five years or both, and whipping not exceeding six strokes, if convicted.

On November 22, last year, it was reported that Thailand was seeking Malaysia's cooperation in tracking down the Uighurs who were believed to have escaped from an Immigration detention centre in Sadao near the Malaysia-Thailand border. — Bernama