Trio On Drug Trafficking Murder Charges Spared Gallows

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Two men sentenced to death for drug trafficking were freed after the Court of Appeal ruled that their convictions are not safe, while an estate worker convicted for murder had his sentence reduced to 22 years’ jail.PUTRAJAYA: Two men today escaped the gallows for allegedly trafficking syabu weighing almost 30kg outside a shop in Penang seven years ago.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by justice Kamaludin Said said there were merits in the appeals brought by fruit orchard worker Lau Boon Siah and Indonesian national Sarizal, an employee at an auto spare parts shop.
“Their convictions are not safe and we order them to be freed,” said Kamaludin, who sat with justices P Ravintharan and Hashim Hamzah.
Their counsel today submitted that there were material discrepancies in the gross weight of the drugs which the prosecution had failed to explain.
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Lawyer Gooi Soon Seng, who represented Sarizal, told the court that drugs amounting to 41kg were seized at the crime scene.
However, the chemist’s report stated that the gross weight was only 31kg, Gooi said.
Gooi, who was assisted by Choong Kak Seng, also said the drugs, also known as methamphetamine, had been identified without the presence of the trial judge.
The lawyer said the judge had stood the case down, leaving the prosecution and the defence to be present when a prosecution witness identified the drugs in 40 packages.
He said this was contrary to established criminal procedure.
Lawyer Tan Guat Cheng, who represented Lau, said the trial judge’s written judgment made no reference to a finding that the two were in possession of the drugs, a prerequisite in trafficking cases.
Lau, 59 and Sarizal, 43, were sentenced to death three years ago for trafficking syabu weighing 29.5kg outside Mei Hua Enterprise at Bukit Tambun in Seberang Perai at about 1.30am on June 23, 2015.
Deputy public prosecutors Parvin Hameedah Natchiar and Nurul Farhana Khalid prosecuted.
Estate worker sees murder charge reduced
The same bench also set aside a death sentence imposed on a 41-year-old rubber estate worker for the murder of his colleague in Mentakab, Pahang, five years ago.
Kamaludin said Rosli Naqur Gani’s conviction for murdering his 60-year-old co-worker, R Devadas, was flawed based on evidence presented during the trial.
“We are reducing the charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” he said, adding that the trial judge had ignored a defence available to the accused for murder.
Rosli, who pleaded guilty to the amended charge, was sentenced to 22 years’ jail from the date of his arrest on April 17, 2017.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling urged the court to impose the maximum 30-year jail term prescribed under the Penal Code as the victim’s rib cage had been broken.
Earlier, lawyer S Sundarajan submitted that a fight had taken place after a grave and sudden provocation by the deceased.
“Both were in a state of intoxication when the fight took place,” he said.
The murder happened between 1.50am and 11.50am at a house in Chuan Leng Rubber Estate on April 17, 2020.
Rosli attacked Devadas using a wooden club and a sickle. The damage inflicted was enough to break Devadas’ ribs, causing internal bleeding and leading to his death. - FMT

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