PUTRAJAYA, Feb 24 — The Court of Appeal has upheld the five-year prison sentence and RM50,000 fine on a former administrative assistant convicted of trafficking a 13-month-old baby boy and using forged documents to register his birth.
A three-man bench led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, sitting with Justices Datuk Noorin Badaruddin and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, dismissed Nurul Faizan Ahmad Asri’s final appeal against her conviction and sentences.
Delivering the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Azman said the findings of fact by the Sessions Court, which were upheld by the High Court, were a correct and accurate decision.
On January 19, 2024, the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur found Nurul, 41, guilty of trafficking the baby for exploitation by transferring possession of the child in exchange for money.
The offence was committed at Taman Desa Hospital, Jalan Klang Lama, Kuala Lumpur, at 5pm on November 5, 2020.
She was also found guilty by the Sessions Court on the second charge of using a false National Registration Department (JPN) Birth Registration Form in the baby’s name at JPN, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Off Jalan Dutamas, at 10.30am in November 2020.
The accused was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of RM80,000, in default 24 months in prison, for the first charge, and a year in prison and a fine of RM10,000, in default three months in prison, for the second charge, with the sentences running concurrently.
On May 30 last year, the High Court upheld her conviction for both offences, the prison sentences, and the RM10,000 fine, but reduced the RM80,000 fine to RM40,000, with a default one-year prison term.
The first charge was framed under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2017, which is punishable with imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine upon conviction, while the second charge was under Section 471 of the Penal Code, which provides a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine upon conviction.
Lawyers Ahmad Hafiz A. Bakar and Marisha Dianah Md Darus represented Nurul in the proceedings at the Court of Appeal today, while Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohamed Aznin Mohamed Ariff and Iznina Hanim Hashim appeared for the prosecution.
