 |
|
|
|
|
|
7 could be jailed for airport 'bomb jokes'
|
|
|
Tue, Oct 28, 2008
New Straits Times
|
|
|
|
|
>PUTRAJAYA: At least seven Malaysian air travellers face the possibility of life-long bans from using any of the country's airports for using the word "bomb" indiscriminately. That, however, is the least of their problems. They could also face life imprisonment if convicted under the Aviation Offences Act for joking about carrying bombs in their luggage or "planting bombs on planes or in the airports".
The seven were nabbed by Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad officials at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang and at the Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur international airports.
And while they argued that they were simply joking, MAHB took a very serious view of their actions and have handed them over to police for further investigations.
"We are still awaiting the reports on the seven from police before deciding on the action to be taken," said MAHB operation services senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad.
They were passengers of Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia and were said to have been detained between May last year and April this year while they were on board flights or at check-in counters or security checkpoints.
One of them was charged in Kuching but he was acquitted as the judge ruled that the defence counsel had managed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case. The court also took cognizance of the fact that the sound of the aircraft had hampered communication between the accused and a flight steward.
The accused had allegedly told a flight steward on a Malaysia Airlines flight that he was carrying a bomb on board the plane.
The accused was arrested, charged and had his passport impounded.
He was released on a RM5,000 bail after claiming trial but was acquitted in September.
The Aviation Offences Act states: "Any person who intentionally communicates any information which is false, misleading or deceptive in a material particular, where the communication of the information endangers the safety of an aircraft in flight or is likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft in flight, commits an offence under this act.
"Any person who commits an offence under this act shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life."
Azmi said precautionary measures were being enforced with the 2006 amendments to the act.
The Montreal Convention, to which Malaysia is a signatory, covers crimes committed against the safety of civil aviation while the aircraft is "in service" and "in flight". This includes bomb hoaxes.
Azmi said depending on the investigations, these passengers could also be profiled as "high risk" passengers, meaning they could be banned from using airports in the country.
He strongly advised passengers not to make indiscriminate remarks about bombs at any airport or while travelling in any aircraft, anywhere in the world, to avoid getting into trouble.
It was learned that a Malaysian women who was returning from Jeddah, several months ago, was jailed for three months for telling the steward that "It is not like I have a bomb in my bag", when a flight steward asked her why her bag was so heavy.
The woman served her sentence in Singapore as the offence was said to have been committed at the Changi International Airport.
Azmi said recently, a passenger in Sibu, Sarawak, had his luggage blown up by airport security after he jokingly told them he had a bomb in his bag.
Another reported incident took place in Sydney where a pilot was let off with a serious warning when he noted to his co-pilot at the security-screening counter that his spectacles case looked like a tiny bomb.
Azmi noted that airports worldwide were having stringent checks to prevent untoward incidences.
Warnings like, "Dangerous four-letter word: Do not utter the word bomb in the airport at checkpoints" as well as "Do not use the word bomb even for private conversations in airport although the law only applies to saying it in public, particularly to security officers", have been placed at many airports worldwide.
Azmi added there were no such signs at Malaysian airports yet but warned passengers not to make light of the matter.
|
|
| READERS' POSTINGS |
| |
|
STORY INDEX
|
|
|
|
|
|
