Man who tried to smuggle Lankans escapes with fine

A notorious people smuggler who tried to bring 254 Sri Lankan asylum seekers into Australia last year has been fined by an Indonesian court.

Abraham Louhenapessy, better known as Captain Bram, was fined 25 million rupiah ($A3000) yesterday for breaching sailing laws.

The Serang District Court found Bram guilty of hiring crew members who did not have proper documents to man his boat, the Jaya Lestari 5, which he used to transport the Tamil people.

Prosecutors were unable to charge Bram with more serious offences, partly because people smuggling is not yet a crime in Indonesia. Bram has two months to pay the fine. If he fails to do so, he could face five months in prison.