KUALA LUMPUR – Nine Indonesians were sent to jail after failing to pay fines between RM100,000 and RM1 million after pleading guilty at the Kuching sessions court here yesterday to encroaching into Malaysian waters and fishing without permits.
Two Indonesian skippers Sutas Rif and Kadrino were each fined RM1 million and ordered to be jailed for six months if they failed to pay the fine.
Meanwhile, skipper Dedi Yanto, who was also fined RM1 million, was sentenced to seven months in jail for failing to pay the fine.
Two crew members M. Riz and Midi were fined RM200,000 each or five months’ imprisonment in lieu of the fines.
Crew members Arfandi and Habibi each received a fine of RM100,000, in default six months’ jail while Meri Sugianto and Yoga Purnama were slapped with a RM100,000 fine each in default four months in jail.
According to the charge sheet, all the accused failed to inform an authorised officer by radio, telex or facsimile in English or Bahasa Malaysia to identify themselves, location and destination the types and also amount of fish that their vessels were carrying and of the circumstances under which they were entering Malaysian waters.
They committed the offence in three separate boats between 98.6, 99.2 and 101.7 nautical miles off Tg Payong, Sarawak, between 6.45am and 9pm on November 14 this year, reported Borneo Post Online
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency team spotted the boats, intercepted them and apprehended the skippers and their crew.
Later, the boats, various equipment and devices on board such as GPS units, and catch weighing about 90kg were seized.
The Malaysian Fisheries Department also confirmed that the vessels had failed to notify any authorised officer of them entering the Malaysian waters, which was in contravention of Section 16(3) of the Fisheries Act 1985. – November 28, 2023