15 Indonesians jailed for hostel riots in Malaysia
15 Indonesians jailed for hostel riots in Malaysia
Reuters, Seremban, Malaysia
A Malaysian court jailed 15 Indonesian textile workers on Tuesday
for six months for rioting and taking part in an illegal assembly
linked to Jan. 17 riots at their company's hostel accommodation.
"The 15 workers were charged with rioting, and alternatively
for taking part in an unlawful assembly. All pleaded guilty and
were sentenced to six months imprisonment," deputy public
prosecutor Suhaimi Ibrahim told Reuters after the hearing at
Seremban court, 64 km south of Kuala Lumpur.
"Four of them faced an additional charge of causing mischief
during rioting. They claimed trial, which has been fixed from
January 31 to February 4."
That charge carries a maximum of five years jail.
Malaysia has strict rules on what constitutes lawful assembly,
requiring public gatherings of more than five people to obtain
police permission.
Hundreds of Indonesian textile workers hurled stones, chairs
and bottles at police in a riot after a team of narcotics
officers raided their five-story hostel near their factory in
Nilai town in the western state of Negeri Sembilan, police said.
Some 800 workers were at the hostel at the time, though police
said they were unsure how many were involved in the riot.
Controversy surrounding Malaysia's Indonesian migrant workers
has rumbled on for weeks after a series of violent incidents.
A senior Home Ministry official said last Sunday Kuala Lumpur
would halve the 900,000 Indonesians registered to work here.
Most are employed in the construction, manufacturing and
plantation sectors and many also work as housemaids.
Authorities have also launched a crackdown on hundreds of
thousands of illegal immigrants, most of whom are Indonesian.
Indonesia criticized its neighbor's decision to halve the
number of registered Indonesians working in the country, saying
the move could backfire and spark an influx of illegal workers.
Malaysia is home to more than a million foreign workers, most
of them from poorer neighbors Indonesia, India, Bangladesh,
Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines.