Three individuals, including a woman and two men, found guilty of trafficking seven foreign women for sex exploitation, were sentenced to a total of 49 years in jail by the Court of Appeal. The panel, chaired by Justice Datuk Supang Lian, alongside Justices Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Datuk Wong Kian Kheong, unanimously overturned the acquittal of Bambie Amor Relioque, 40, Esekeroboy Asing, 49, and Ng Vai Kwang, 60. Each of them received a seven-year sentence for the seven charges they faced.
The prosecution had appealed against the High Court’s decision, which upheld the Session Court’s ruling to acquit and discharge the trio. Initially freed after a full trial on January 25, 2019, the respondents' acquittal was challenged by the prosecution at the High Court, but the appeal was dismissed.
The trio was found guilty of trafficking seven women, aged between 19 and 28, at a residence in Lorong Kemajuan, Labuan, on May 13, 2017. Their actions violated Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, in conjunction with Section 34 of the Penal Code. This indictment carries a potential jail term of up to 15 years and a fine upon conviction.
Despite the severity of their crimes, the court opted for concurrent sentences, meaning they will serve seven years behind bars concurrently from the day of the judgment. This decision reflects the court's commitment to upholding justice while ensuring fairness in sentencing.
Counsel Edward Paul represented the three respondents throughout the legal proceedings. The case highlights the importance of combating human trafficking and protecting vulnerable individuals from exploitation. By imposing significant penalties on perpetrators, the justice system sends a clear message that such heinous acts will not be tolerated. It also underscores the crucial role of legal advocacy in safeguarding the rights of victims and holding offenders accountable for their actions.
Young Sok Fun is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
