10 hours ago
3 immigration officers acquitted of smuggling migrants at KLIA
Judicial commissioner Wendy Ooi ruled that the defence had successfully raised doubt in the prosecution's case.
SHAH ALAM : The High Court today acquitted three immigration officers, including a woman, of charges related to the smuggling of nine Bangladeshi migrants at KLIA eight years ago.
Judicial commissioner Wendy Ooi said following an independent and comprehensive evaluation of all the evidence presented during the trial that the defence had successfully raised doubt in the prosecution's case.
Maizatul Azwa Nasib, 32, Hairulnizam Hasim, 43, and Zamir Hazwan Hamid, 42, were accused of smuggling the migrants through KLIA between 3pm and 10pm on July 17, 2017, and again between 10pm on July 18, 2017 and 8am the following day.
They were charged under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
Each of the accused had been out on a bail of RM10,000 pending the outcome of today's proceedings.
Lawyer Harpal Singh represented Maizatul and Hairulnizam while Rajpal Singh appeared for Zamir.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur Suriati Mohamad led the prosecution.
In 2021, then High Court judge Yazid Mustafa acquitted the trio without calling for their defence, prompting the prosecution to file an appeal.
In a ruling last year, the Court of Appeal ordered the trio to enter their defence.
