A 39-year-old mother of five was charged at the Seri Manjung Sessions Court on Thursday with allegedly smuggling 24 Indonesian migrants during a police operation in Segari earlier this month.
Umi Kalsum Omar Noor Balasubramaniam pleaded not guilty after the two charges were read before Judge Azizah Ahmad.
According to the charges, the housewife is accused of carrying out migrant smuggling involving eight men and one woman at the roadside in Batu 11 Segari at about 3.30am on 4 April 2026.
In a second charge, she is alleged to have smuggled 11 men and four women at a house along Jalan Segari, Batu 12, Segari, Manjung at about 4am on the same day.
Both charges were framed under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM), which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both upon conviction.
Her lawyer, Mohamad Zaidi Othman, applied for bail, citing her family circumstances, including her youngest child who is only around 18 months old.
However, the prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Amal Aziemah Abd Kohar, informed the court that bail was not applicable for the offence under the relevant provision.
The court then fixed 22 May for mention and ordered that the accused remain in custody pending further proceedings.
In a separate proceeding, an Indonesian man, Theodurus Seran, 30, pleaded guilty to two charges of smuggling 15 Indonesian migrants under the same law. He was reportedly brought to court on crutches after suffering a fractured right leg and is alleged to have acted as a caretaker of a migrant transit house involved in the offences.
