KOTA KINABALU – The Indonesian worker who was wrongfully imprisoned and whipped has every right to take to court all parties involved in the series of unjust events he had to endure in the past few months, said a workers’ union.
Sabah Timber Industry Employees Union (STIEU) secretary-general Engrit Liaw also slammed the Immigration Department for failing to check Sabri Umar’s status despite having his passport and issuing the check-out memo.
“I am sure that the consulate will want to sue. But in the end, it is up to Sabri if he wants to take legal action.
“It is very unfair, if you ask me. I feel Sabri should sue all parties, including his former employer, after being wrongfully whipped five times and imprisoned,” she told The Vibes.
Migrant worker and union member, Sabri, 32, worked at Fu Yee Corporation Sdn Bhd, a plywood factory in Kalabakan, Tawau, as a labourer for seven years before he received a termination letter on April 4.
The next morning Sabri’s employer took him to the Immigration Department to terminate his working permit, where the department issued a check-out memo that provided for a month, until May 4, for him to return to Indonesia.
However, on the evening of the same day, Sabri was arrested, and his former employer submitted his valid passport to police.
Sabri’s case was then heard in the Tawau sessions court on April 19, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of not possessing a legal pass under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 before being sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment and five strokes of the cane.
Sabri was unrepresented at the time.
Liaw said the union had contacted the Indonesian consulate in Tawau for help, and it filed an appeal on the same day.
At the same time, the union brought Sabri’s case to the Industrial Relations Department on April 29, saying that his employment was terminated without reasonable cause.
“I followed up with the case by visiting Sabri in the Tawau Prison on June 23. We were so shocked when Sabri told us that he had received five strokes of the cane the morning of that day before his appeal was heard,” said Liaw.
Sabri was acquitted by the Tawau High Court last Friday, after lawyers told the court that he had only pleaded guilty on April 19 after being misled that he would be deported to Indonesia on May 4 if he were to plead as such.
His lawyers also argued that the conviction should be set aside as, though Sabri pleaded guilty, the sessions court did not check whether Sabri had a valid passport.
Meanwhile, a Sabah law expert who requested anonymity said that from a legal perspective, Sabri can identify the person who made the mistake that resulted in his wrongful caning.
If Sabri, as a victim, is able to do so, he could then file for negligence, the source said.
However, he said he is unsure whether Sabri could sue the court, but he could definitely sue the Immigration Department or police.
Seeing that Sabri said he did not have the legal documents at hand, they were unable to point out who was at fault during the process.
“But the prison must present a document for the court to confirm that the case does not have an ongoing appeal before the prison could enforce caning. I assume the process had somehow gone wrong here, too,” he said.
At the same time, the source thinks that Indonesia’s Tawau consulate can demand an explanation from the Malaysian government.
The case grabbed the attention of many parties after 46 civil organisations issued a statement crying foul over Sabri’s wrongful caning, as it was against Section 311 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits caning until the appeal is heard and decided upon.
The groups and organisations led by Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture urged the Malaysian government to apologise, and to abolish caning as a form of corporal punishment in the country. – The Vibes, July 24, 2022
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