PUTRAJAYA – A massage parlour proprietor began his 10-year jail sentence today after the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction for trafficking two Indonesian women and exploiting them to provide sexual services to clients.
Lee Kum Loon, 58, lost his final appeal to set aside his conviction and jail sentence.
A warrant of committal was issued by the three-member panel led by justice Datuk Hanipah Farikullah for Lee to begin his jail sentence from today.
He was previously released on RM11,000 bail pending the hearing of his appeal.
Justice Hanipah, who presided with justices Datuk Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and Datuk Lim Chong Fong, dismissed Lee’s appeal after ruling that his conviction for the offence was safe.
Justice Hanipah, who delivered the court’s unanimous decision, said it was the court’s view there was no specific meaning to the term “trafficking” in the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Atipsom) and the court referred to a Cambridge dictionary to get the meaning of the term “trafficking”.
Justice Hanipah said based on the overall evidence adduced in the court and the meaning of “trafficking” in the dictionary, the court found that the element of Section 2 of Atipsom has been fulfilled.
She said according to the dictionary, the meaning of “trafficking” is an act of buying or selling people or of making money from work they are forced to do, such as sex work.
According to the charge, Lee committed the offence on the women, then aged 24 and 28, at Asia City Reflexology in Taman Perindustrian Axis, Shah Alam, Selangor at 6.15pm on July 31, 2018.
On April 4, 2019, the sessions court found Lee guilty of the offence and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.
The high court, on March 10, 2020, dismissed Lee’s appeal and increased his jail term to 10 years. This prompted him to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
During the appeal hearing, Lee’s counsel Tan Choon Hong argued that the women were only employed to give body massage services and his client never forced them to provide sexual services.
He said the women willingly offered sexual services, adding that the money for those services was given to them and that his client did not collect any money.
Tan said the charge against his client under Atipsom was too harsh, adding that Lee could have been charged under the Penal Code or the Immigration Act.
Deputy public prosecutor Fauziah Daud said the women were coerced by Lee to perform sexual acts which are considered sexual exploitation.
She said the women’s willingness to perform sexual acts is not an element to be considered by the court. – Bernama, February 15, 2023
