Teenager Among Vietnamese Fishermen Facing Illegal Entry Charges
By Rol Ezam

Bandar Seri Begawan - Eight Vietnamese faced charges of illegal entry and unlawful fishing in Brunei territorial waters yesterday.

The eight, including a 16-year-old boy, were produced in the Magistrate's Court.

They are Nguyen Phung, 25, Truong Van Men, 40, Trinh Bong, 37, Huynh La, 40, Tran Minh Tien, 24, Nguyen Dung, 36, Nguyen Hoa, 24, and the 16-year-old boy.

Pg Isa Pg Hj Aliuddin, acting on behalf of the Public Prosecutor, listed the two charges against them.

Firstly, the defendants are facing the charge of entering Brunei on May 5, 2003 from a place outside Brunei without a valid pass contravening Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act, Chapter 17 and punishable under section 6(3)(a) of the same.

The charge also mentioned that they were in Brunei territorial waters at Latitude 06 Degree 51.50 N, Longitude 113 Degree 06.67 E.

Secondly, they are being charged of entering on May 5, 2003 Brunei's territorial waters without a valid licence using fishing appliances, to wit, fishing lines used for the purpose of catching fish and committing an offence contrary to Regulation 2(b) of the Fisheries Act regulations and punishable under section 11(1) of the Fisheries Act, Chapter 61.

If convicted, they face a fine of $2,500 each and a year in jail.

Pending the application made by Pg Isa yesterday, they were further remanded at Muara Police Station for a week for further investigation.

All of them will again appear in court on May 13 at 2 pm for further mention. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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