JB High Court frees Immigration officers of human trafficking charges

The Star

Two senior Immigration officers have been acquitted and discharged by the Johor Baru High Court from a charge of human trafficking.  Haris Fadzilah Abu Bakar, 51, and Norhayati Abu Bakar, 53, a deputy director and senior officer respectively, were freed from the charge under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (Atipsom) 2007 on Monday (Oct 16).  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4fmw2n79  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00 Two senior immigration officers were acquitted and discharged by the Johor Bahru High Court

00:08 on Monday on a charge of human trafficking.

00:11 The 51-year-old deputy director, Haris Fazila Abubakar, and the 53-year-old senior officer,

00:17 Nohayati Abubakar, were cleared of the charge under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking

00:23 in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act, ATIPSOM 2007.

00:29 High Court Judge Nohayati Mann made the decision after finding the prosecution failed to establish

00:35 a prima facie case against both defendants.

00:39 Justice Nohayati said the accused had processed the exit procedure of migrants in accordance

00:44 with the methods approved by the Immigration Department.

00:48 The charge sheet indicated that the duo, alongside three others, were accused of conducting human

00:54 trafficking activities involving eight migrants at Pasir Gudang Port on June 15, 2020.

01:01 The offense carries a jail term of up to 15 years, a fine, or both upon conviction.

01:06 Meanwhile, the other three accused received jail sentences ranging from two to four years

01:11 after pleading guilty.

01:12 For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au/criminal-trafficking/criminal-trafficking-in-pasir-gudang-port.html.

01:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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