The Chinese Embassy in Malaysia has decried the 18-day jail sentence against four of its citizens over what is described as an honest mistake.

According to a report by Oriental Daily yesterday, the embassy said the incident had caused a "strong reaction" in China and many had called to enquire whether it is safe to travel to Sabah.

The embassy said the four people involved were only ordinary tourists and had no intention of entering Malaysia illegally.

“They merely went through the wrong channel and unintentionally didn’t get their passports endorsed but were imprisoned by authorities in Sabah for 18 days.

“Although investigations have determined the circumstances behind the incident early on, they were still locked up and brought to court. The embassy finds this situation unfathomable,” it said.

It added at that since last year, over 20 tourists from China had similarly faced fines and imprisonment for failing to get their passports endorsed.

Based on information from its counterparts in Japan and Brunei, the embassy said such issues had affected citizens of those countries too.

“But the relevant authorities in Sabah did not impose any imprisonment or fine. They merely paid an administrative fee to obtain a special pass and were then allowed to leave,” the Chinese Embassy was quoted as saying.

On Sunday, Bernama quoted Sabah Immigration Department director Muhamad Sade Mohamad Amin as saying that the four women had flown from Shanghai to Tawau via Kota Kinabalu on Dec 4.

However, while transiting to their next flight at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), they failed to get their travel documents endorsed at any of the immigration counters.

All four were detained at the Tawau International Airport on Dec 10 when having their passports checked for their return flight to Shanghai.

On Dec 28, they pleaded guilty at the Tawau Sessions Court to breaching Section 24 (2) of the Immigration Act 1959/63. They were sentenced to 18 days in jail beginning from the day they were arrested.

The provision allows for a fine up to RM10,000, a jail term of up to five years or both upon conviction.

According to Oriental Daily, the four tourists held a press conference at KKIA before their flight home to Shanghai yesterday.

They reportedly decried the deplorable conditions of their imprisonment and blamed poor signage and careless checks for contributing to their mistake.

“We came for a holiday. Why are we treated like murderers or pests? It’s like prison scenes in the movies.

“We couldn’t sleep and had to undergo prison life with other inmates, sleeping late and waking up early. Apart from roll calls, we had to meditate.

“The conditions in prison were horrible and the food is even worse. The fish had gone bad and the rice and porridge were infested with insects,” they were quoted as saying.

One of them, Wu Jingting, 24, reportedly said that the four of them got separated from other passengers of their flight because their baggage arrived late.

She claimed that due to a lack of directions from airport personnel or signage, they made their way to their flight to Tawau by themselves.

“We thought we would only get our documents endorsed in Tawau, so we pushed through a door that led directly to domestic flights. There was nothing blocking the door, so we thought it was an ordinary channel,” she said.

Despite having their documents checked while en route to their destination, Wu said no one had caught on to their lack of endorsements until Dec 9 in Tawau.

Even then, she said their documents were not immediately confiscated. Instead, they were given an address at the Tawau International Airport and to find it by themselves.

The report did not mention whether they succeeded in locating the address. Instead, Wu was quoted saying that the group was handcuffed and taken into custody the following day.

For the record, Muhamad Sade had reportedly refuted claims that signages at KKIA are unclear.

On Dec 29, Oriental Daily reported that he had inspected KKIA on the night before and found instructions on immigration procedures to be clearly spelt out including signages in the Chinese language.