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| Ng Hui Hui |
Thu, Jan 17, 2008
my paper
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No jail, just fine after SAF man's appeal in Johor illegal entry case
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>AFTER nearly a year of waiting in apprehension, Mr Lee Kee Fatt can now finally heave a sigh of relief.
The Singapore Armed Forces lieutenant, 29, was sentenced to three months' jail for entering Malaysia without a valid immigration stamp on Jan 23 last year.
He had appealed against the sentence and, yesterday, the Johor Baru High Court fined him RM$2,000 (S$874) instead.
His lawyer, Bernard George, told my paper: "He was so relieved when he heard the good news. I'm happy for him too.
"The moment he told me about the incident, I was sure that it was a genuine mistake on his part and that he had not meant to enter Malaysia illegally."
A year ago, Mr Lee and his girlfriend had driven to Johor Baru at about 3.30am. They claimed they did not check their passports after clearing immigration.
On return, Malaysian immigration officers arrested them at the Causeway after discovering that there were no entry stamps on their passports.
Both of them pleaded guilty.
His girlfriend was sentenced to two weeks' jail and fined RM$3,000.
With one day left to finishing her jail term, she returned to court to plead her case.
She was successful and granted bail. But her family decided not to post bail of RM10,000 after all and she served out her sentence.
Mr Lee was released on bail of RM10,000 after spending the weekend in jail.
Mr George said he was not surprised at the verdict of the appeal.
"The time he spent in Malaysia was only about 20 minutes. He had only gone there to drop his girlfriend. The judge accepted my argument," he explained.
He added that the couple were quarrelling then. That was why they did not check their passports.
The maximum penalty for this offence is five years' jail, RM10,000 fine and six strokes of the cane.
nghuihui@sph.com.sg
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