Mom of four charged with trafficking, exploiting children in Johor
JOHOR BARU: A 55-year-old woman has claimed trial to two counts of trafficking and exploiting underage children.
The accused, Haliza Palok, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Sessions Court judge Thalha Bachok @ Embok Mok on Friday (May 30) here.
In the first charge, Haliza was accused of trafficking a boy, estimated to be between 10 and 12 years old, and exploiting him for activities in violation of Section 5(1)(c) of the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966.
For the second charge, she was accused of committing the same offence against a girl believed to be between 13 and 15 years old.
She was alleged to have committed the offences at around 6.54pm on Dec 19 last year, at Jalan Kargo 2, Senai Airport City.
The charges were framed under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which provides for life imprisonment or a minimum of five years' jail and whipping, upon conviction.
The prosecution was led by Immigration Department deputy public prosecutor Tan Yen Thung, while Haliza was represented by Amarpreet Singh, who appeared on behalf of lawyer Mohd Amierul Sharafi Shahazan.
Tan requested bail to be set at RM20,000 for each charge with two sureties and for the accused to surrender her passport and report to the department once a month.
Amarpreet asked for a lower amount, citing that his client and her husband were currently unemployed.
He added that the accused, a mother of four, suffers from hypertension and had not been informed earlier that she would be charged in court.
'The accused was only told to go to the Immigration office to give her statement. She and her family had only a few hours to prepare the bail money,' he said.
Judge Thalha then set bail at RM17,000 in total with two sureties, and allowed the prosecution's additional conditions.
She also instructed the accused not to contact or disturb the victims and fixed Aug 27 for the next mention.
It is learnt that the two children, believed to be from the Philippines, were made to work at a battery factory.
It was also learnt that the accused had allegedly acted as a middleperson who 'supplied' workers to businesses.
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