4 days ago
Woman among three charged for smuggling Sri Lankan
KLANG: A woman and two men were charged in the Sessions Court with facilitating the smuggling of a Sri Lankan migrant through Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Santhiya Darshini, 27, Janatharnan Appupillai, 46, and Sri Lankan national Vtheewaran Palani, 48, are accused of jointly facilitating the smuggling of a Sri Lankan migrant in transit on July 10.
All three, who were represented by lawyers William Edwin, Donald Selvam, and C Surenthran, understood the charges, which were read in Tamil.
However, no pleas were recorded as the case falls under the High Court's jurisdiction.
The trio was charged under Section 26C of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act, read with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
This offence is punishable by up to 15 years in jail, a fine, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Anisah Pisol and Norhidayah Abdullah Sani requested that the case be transferred to the Shah Alam High Court, which the court allowed. No bail was offered.
In a separate case at the same court, another Sri Lankan man, Antany Sujan Antany Ranjan, 21, was charged with possessing a fake passport to facilitate migrant smuggling at KLIA on July 10.
The man, who was not represented by a lawyer, was charged under Section 26E of the ATIPSOM Act.
If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years, a fine of up to RM500,000, or both.
