KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — The Magistrate’s Court here has fixed July 5 for the case management of 11 Chinese citizens of Uighur ethnicity who were charged with entering the country without valid travel documents.
Magistrate Wong Chai Sia set the date when the case came up for mention before her today.
The 11 individuals are Zakaria Arman, Salehudin Ali, Jaefar Amin, Osman Abbas, Alim Osman, Asen Ziyali, Taher Kasim, Ibrahim Rexiti, Nurudin Muhammad, Abdul Kader and Yusof Ahmed.
The men, aged between 20 and 40 were charged with entering the country without a valid travel document at the vicinity of the Sentul police station here about 10.50am on January 31.
They were charged under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act (Act 155) which carries a maximum fine of RM10,000 or a jail term of up to five years or both, and whipping not exceeding six strokes, upon conviction.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Najwa Bistamam while the accused were represented by counsel Raimi Ab Rahim.
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
