KUCHING: A foreign female shop worker was sentenced to three months in prison by the Sessions Court here yesterday after she was found guilty of overstaying in the country for 679 days.
The accused Erlinda, 29, from Lubuk Rawa, Indonesia, pleaded guilty to one charge read before Judge Mohd Taufik Mohd @ Mohd Yusoff.
According to the charge, on December 25 last year, at around 9.20 pm, she allegedly stayed at a cafe in Jalan Matang here without a valid purpose after her work permit expired.
The accused therefore was charged under Section 15 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and can be punished according to Section 15 (4) of the same act.
If found guilty, the maximum sentence is five years in prison and the minimum fine is RM10,000.
The court set the accused to serve a prison sentence effective from the date of her arrest on December 25, 2022.
According to the facts of the case, the accused was arrested by the police in a gambling machine raid at a restaurant in Jalan Matang, around 9.20 pm, December 25 last year.
The result of the investigation found out that the accused had entered Sarawak, Malaysia through the Biawak international gate on February 15, 2019 and was issued a work permit until February 15, 2021.
Therefore, the accused had overstayed in Malaysia for 679 days after the expiry of her work permit until the date of her arrest on last December 25.
The prosecution of the case was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Danial Mohamad Ali while the accused was not represented by a lawyer.
