Jubang Anak Usin v Public Prosecutor

Appellant(s): Jubang Anak Usin

Respondent(s):

• Pendakwa Raya
• [Pendakwa Raya]

• YA Datuk Supang Lian
• YA Dato' Azizul Azmi Bin Adnan
• YA Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Bin Jaffril

• The appellant was charged and convicted by the High Court under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM) for smuggling ten Indonesian migrants.
• The High Court found the appellant guilty, convicting and sentencing him to six years imprisonment.
• The appellant subsequently appealed against both the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal.

• Whether the High Court erred in its assessment of the main prosecution witness (PW5), an admitted accomplice, particularly regarding the need for corroboration and the application of the accomplice warning.
• Whether the High Court erred by not invoking an adverse inference under Section 114(g) of the Evidence Act 1950 against the prosecution for failing to call an alleged mastermind ("Hadi") as a witness.
• Whether the High Court erred in rejecting the appellant's alibi defence, considering the definition of "smuggling of migrants" which includes indirect facilitation.

• The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming the High Court's conviction and sentence, finding no merits to intervene.
• The Court held that the accomplice's testimony was sufficiently corroborated by the appellant's own cautioned statement, which was admissible under Section 18A of SOSMA.
• The Court ruled that the failure to call the alleged mastermind did not warrant an adverse inference under Section 114(g) as the prosecution's case was complete without that testimony and did not create a gap.
• The Court found that the alibi defence was irrelevant for an offence that could be committed "directly or indirectly" and was an afterthought as it was not put to prosecution witnesses during cross-examination.