KOTA KINABALU: A hand-drawn identity card (IC) as proof of citizenship did not go down well with the Sessions Court judge, yesterday.
A Filipino accused of entering this state illegally provided this a moment of comedy when he presented the picture depicting a man wearing a shirt with two round disc-shaped drawings purportedly representing his fingerprints.
The ‘IC’ presented by the accused Issam Bakri, 42, was actually a piece of paper cut into a MyKad size with pencil written drawing of a person on the surface and basically it looked like a MyKad but with the features of the old ‘Kad Pengenalan’.
Sessions court judge Azreena Aziz who appeared unamused asked: “Is this your MyKad?”
She asked Issam three times whether this was the document he meant, to which he replied, all three times, that it was.
Azreena then ordered Issam to be reffered to Hospital Bukit Padang for mental observation and fixed June 22, for re-mention the case to review the result.
The trial was also set on August 16, this year.
According to Prosecuting Officer ASP Sabrina Jinius, Issam had pleaded not guilty when he was first charged on April 26, for not having a legal identification document to live in Sabah.
He maintained his innocence when the charge was read out to him on Wednesday in which he confidently informed the court that he has an ‘IC’ and infact he had it with him at that time.
Issam was charged under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act that carries a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or jail a term of up to five years and liable to whipping, upon conviction.-By Evachel J John/BNN
