Shopowner sentenced over sales of pirated CDs and VCDs

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Intermediate Court yesterday sentenced Yong Teck Sang, owner of 'Kedai Komunis', to jail for six weeks, but allowed a stay of execution pending an appeal.

Judge Pengiran Hajah Hanani Pengiran Haji Metusain deferred sentencing the defendant on Thursday to invite the prosecution to make submissions on sentencing, and yesterday decided a custodial sentence was proper.

The court, after listening to the defence's plea for mitigation from Wednesday, stated yesterday that the defendant's silence had not saved the court's time.

That he had been running a "dishonest business" while other CDs had been sold in the shop was found to be in contrary to the defence's mitigation plea.

The court was of the view that the defendant knew that he was selling infringing products.

The defendant was also found by the court to be unremorseful.

He had sold 135 copies, a figure which is not insignificant, stated the court, and had himself been involved in the exploitation of intellectual property to gain financial benefit.

The court's observation was that not only had this saga impacted Brunei but also the owner of the intellectual property and had cost the owner time and money to come all the way to Brunei to give evidence in court. The court stated that although the sentence in Brunei is more lenient compared to that of other countries, it did not mean the case was taken less seriously.

The court convicted the defendant on two charges of offering for sale infringing CDs and VCDs of copyright work belonging to Suria Records Sdn Bhd, Malaysia.

The trial was initially conducted by former DPP Joe Chan Jin Yuh and later taken over by DPP Hjh S Emeralda PD Hj Abas.

Defence counsels Shazale Hj Mohd Salleh and Lt Col (Rtd) Harif Ibrahim represented Yong Teck Sang in court.

Investigations in the case were conducted by the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, Royal Brunei Police Force led by ASP Naguib Dato Hj Ismail.