Woman jailed for intending to travel to Syria to commit terrorism

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman was sentenced to eight years' jail by the High Court yesterday after she pleaded guilty to a charge with attempting to travel to Syria last year for the commission of terrorist acts.

Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak handed down the sentence on Nur Afiqah Farhanah Che Samsudim, 26, and ordered the woman to serve the sentence from the date of arrest on April 4 this year.

When handing down the sentence, Mohd Sofian said it was fortunate that Nur Afiqah Farhanah was apprehended at the Syria border, adding that had she entered the republic, her fate would be unknown.

"The real jihad (holy war) is for oneself and one's own family, how to be a true Muslim. The court sympathises with the accused over her difficult life, but going to Syria is not a solution,” he said.

He advised Nur Afiqah Farhanah, who was crying in the dock, to be remorse and return to her mother after serving her jail time.

Nur Afiqah Farhanah, who is unemployed, was charged with intending to go to Syria for the commission of terrorist acts by travelling from Malaysia to Singapore and then to Turkey at the Departure Hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 5.51 pm on Aug 29, 2016.

The charge, under Section 130JA of the Penal Code, provides an imprisonment for up to 30 years, and shall also be liable to fine, upon conviction.

In mitigation, her lawyer, Mohd Hezri Shaharil, said his client had repented and was remorse.

“She lost her father at the age of 17 and began befriending a man, who became her lover, but he died in 2014. She became depressed and often cried at the grave.

“She then married the man's younger brother, but the marriage lasted for only two months because the husband is a drug addict and she then continued her studies in medicine before befriending a man who was in Syria through a social site.

“The man then invited her to Syria so that they could marry and she agreed,” he said.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P.Kunyalam.

According to the facts of the case, the woman had sold her Perodua Myvi car for RM5,000 for her passage to Turkey and before leaving, had written a letter to her mother to inform that she was migrating to Syria and to die as “syahid”.

She arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug 30, 2016 and stayed there for a few months before she was arrested by the Turkish authorities on Feb 9 this year at the border along Turkey and Syria.

On April 4, 2017, she was deported to Malaysia and was arrested by the police at KLIA. - Bernama