Three charged with arranging to smuggle Sri Lankan national via KLIA

Three individuals were brought before the Klang Sessions Court today to face a charge of arranging the smuggling of a Sri Lankan national last month.

The accused, G Santhiya Darshini, 27, and Janarthanan Appupillai, 46, both Malaysians, along with Vtheewaran Palani, 48, a Sri Lankan citizen, nodded to indicate they understood the charge after it was read to them in Tamil before judge Sabri Ismail.

No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

The trio was accused of jointly arranging the smuggling of a Sri Lankan migrant in transit via air through Terminal 1 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on July 10.

They were charged under Section 26C of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine, or both.

At the same court, a Sri Lankan national, Antany Sujan Antany Ranjan, 21, was charged with possessing a fake passport in another person’s name to facilitate migrant smuggling at the KLIA international departure gate at 10.25pm on July 10.

No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

He was charged under Section 26E of the Atipsom Act, which carries a sentence of between seven and 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to RM500,000, or both.

Deputy public prosecutors Anisah Pisol and Norhidayah Abdullah Sani did not offer bail for any of the accused and requested that the cases be transferred to the Shah Alam High Court.

The court allowed the prosecution’s application to transfer all cases to the Shah Alam High Court.

Lawyers William Edwin, Donald Selvam, and C Surenthran appeared for the first three accused, while Antany was unrepresented.

- Bernama

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