Three Men Freed Of Drug Trafficking Charge

SHAH ALAM, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Three men were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today on a charge of trafficking more than 73 kilogrammes of drugs into the country.

Judge Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee made the ruling after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie against Muhammad Amiruddin Abd Hadi, 30, V. Vijandran Nair, 35, and Muhammad Faiz Ahmad, 36, at the end of the prosecution’s case.

She said there were serious weaknesses in the case presented by the prosecution against the three accused.

In the brief judgment, the judge said there were contradictions in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, particularly regarding the identification of the case items and the number of boxes of drugs seized.

“The court also took note of the failure of the police to submit photographs during the seizure, in addition to the failure to submit the original closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

“In addition, the investigating officer failed to examine the evidence presented by the accused, thereby undermining the credibility of the prosecution’s case and prejudicing the defence. As such, the three accused are acquitted and discharged without being called to enter their defence,” said Wendy.

The three men were jointly charged with trafficking the methamphetamine near a house in Taman Batu Caves, Gombak, at about 3 pm on Aug 6, 2021.

The charge, framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same law, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, provides the death sentence or life imprisonment if convicted.

The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ainul Mardiyah Mohd Ali.

Muhammad Amiruddin was represented by lawyers Nik Saiful Adli Burhan, Muhamad Asri Abdul Hamid and Md Yusuf Md Idris, while lawyers Zulkifli Awang and Mohd Ruzaini Zulkifli represented Vijandran Nair, and Muhammad Faiz by lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent.  

-- BERNAMA