Kota Kinabalu: Seven Filipino illegal immigrants, recently convicted for trying to board a flight with forged e-boarding passes, were on Wednesday jailed six months for illegally entering the Domestic Departure Hall of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) without Immigration checks.
They were John Rhod Arevalo Aguilar, 27, Axel Angala Orconez, 25, Jonnalyn Nano Cagod, 29, Mark Jay Reganit Salcedo, 28, Marck Lester Pangilinan Bumatayo, 32, Genesis Evaristo Miranda, 24, and Darriane Royce Tolentino Licup, 29.
The seven pleaded guilty before Judge Hurman Hussain to deliberately entering the Domestic Departure Hall on Level 2 of KKIA at 2.45pm on Aug 18, without inspection by Immigration officers.
The offence under Section 24(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, read together with Section 24(2)(a) and punishable under Section 57 of the same Act, which carries a fine of up to RM10,000, a jail term of up to five years, or both, on conviction.
Inspector Deanivo Sittin, prosecuting, in tendering the facts of the case, informed the court that the seven had entered the restricted departure area intending to board a flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, deliberately bypassing Immigration counters to avoid passport checks.
Further investigations revealed they did so to avoid passport checks by the Malaysian Immigration Department at the international departure counters for Peninsular Malaysia flights.
The seven requested lenient sentence.
The prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence, saying it should serve as a lesson not only to the seven but also to the public to prevent others from committing the same offence.
Hurman ordered them to serve the sentence from the date of their arrest and be referred to the Immigration Department, thereafter.
On Sept 2, it was reported that all seven were jailed by the Magistrate’s Court here for using forged e-boarding passes in an attempt to board a flight to Tawau, also at the airport, last month.
They had pleaded guilty before separate magistrates to fraudulently using as genuine an electronic boarding pass for an AirAsia flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau, despite knowing it to be false, on Aug 18 about 2.50pm at the same Domestic Departure Hall.
They were sentenced to between three months and eight months jail.
