Six-month prison term requested for Egyptian

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prosecutors asked the South Jakarta District Court Wednesday to sentence an alleged Egyptian people smuggler to six months in jail for violating immigration laws here, despite the fact that the maximum sentence is six years.

Due to lack of legislation on people smuggling, the state could not charge Mootaz Attia Mohamad Hasan with anything related to that even though there is allegedly a great deal of evidence that he was responsible for smuggling hundreds of Middle Easterners and put them on a boat which sank and killed over 374 of the 418 people on board last year.

The 29-year-old defendant accepted the sentence recommendation.

"I won't make a defense. I have made a mistake, it's all up to you, Your Honor," the defendant told the court. He has been in the immigration quarantine for about 10 months.

Chief prosecutor Tarsono said that Mootaz, or also known as Abu Quassey, violated Article 53 of Law No. 9/1992 on immigration, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a Rp 30 million fine.

He said that Mootaz, who had been deported from the country twice, entered and lived in the country illegally because the Immigration Directorate had put his name on the blacklist.

"Six months jail term is sufficient for overstay charges," Tarsono said outside the court.

The boat carrying 418 Middle Easterners, mostly Iraqis, sank in the Java Sea near Australia's Christmas Island. The boat was supposed to take its passengers to Australia from Lampung.

Indonesia continues to be a preferred transit point for boatpeople heading to Australia and the United States due of its vast territory and relative lack of coastal supervision.

The trial will resume next week.