Maritime officers escort the two Indonesians at the Kuching Court Complex.
KUCHING (Feb 23): The captain of an Indonesian fishing boat was fined RM1 million while one of his crew was fined RM100,000 at the Sessions Court here today after they pleaded guilty to encroaching on Malaysian waters.
Judge Saiful Bahari Adzmi also sentenced captain Mulyadi@Bujang, 33, and crewman Ahmed Sarifulah, 42, to six months in jail each in default of the fines.
Both were charged under Section 16(3) of the Fisheries Act 1985 (Act 317), read together with Subsection 24 of the same Act and sentenced under Section 25(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985.
According to the charge, Mulyadi and Ahmed failed to inform an authorised officer by radio, telex, or facsimile in English or Bahasa Malaysia to identify themselves, location, and destination, as well as the types and amount of fish their boat was carrying and of the circumstances under which they were entering Malaysian fisheries waters.
They committed the offence in a boat at 74.6 nautical miles from Tanjung Sirik, Sarawak at 10.55pm on Feb 8, 2024.
Based on the evidence of the case, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency detained the boat and arrested the captain and crew.
Various items such as a GPS unit, a solar panel, a basket, about 20kg fish, and the vessel were seized.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Azham Marwan prosecuted the case while Mulyadi and Ahmed were unrepresented by legal counsel.
