|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Borneo: Filipino duo escape the gallows
Borneo Post Monday 14 May 2012 Court of Appeal judges Datuk Ramly Haji Ali, Dato' Azhar @ Izhar Haji Ma’ah and Dato' Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim however convicted Jalimah Salleh, 44, and Aldipal Hadani, 54, of a lesser offence of possessing the drugs and sentenced the duo to 15 years' jail. The custodial sentence was ordered to run from the appellants' date of arrest on July 22, 2008. The three judges, in allowing an appeal by Jalimah and Aldipal against the death sentence imposed by the High Court two years ago, ruled that it was not safe to convict both appellants on their original charge under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 and subsequently reduced it to drug possession under Section 6 of the DDA, punishable under Section 39A (2) (r) of the same Act. The original charge provides the mandatory death sentence while the reduced charge carries life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping of not less than 10 strokes. However Jalimah and Aldipal were spared the whipping due to gender and age factors respectively. The three judges made the unanimous decision after hearing arguments from counsel Ronny Cham,who acted for both appellants and reply from deputy public prosecutor Mohd Abahzafree Mohd Abbas. The High Court here had on June 25, 2010, sentenced the duo to death after finding them guilty of trafficking in the drug by the roadside in Jalan Sulaman Bypass, Menggatal at 12.10pm on July 22, 2008. Earlier Ronny submitted that the learned trial judge had erred in convicting the appellant of the drug trafficking charge. In this case, he said the prosecution had to prove that one of the appellants had the intention to be in possession of the dangerous drug and that the possession connected to the purpose or object of trafficking dangerous drug, and the other appellant participated in the possession in furtherance of that intention to traffic dangerous drug. Ronny pointed out that the prosecution could not even identify which appellant conceived the plan or intention to be in possession of the dangerous drug and which appellant participated in the act of possession. Furthermore, he said that there was no evidence to prove that the appellants had trafficked in the drug. In his rebuttal, Mohd Abahzafree submitted that the appellants had custody of a bag which contained the drug. Prior to the arrest, he said Jalimah was standing by the roadside while Aldipal was squatting in front of the bag. He said when the police came to the scene, Aldipal held the bag and while the latter was arrested, the woman grabbed the bag before throwing it to the ground. Mohd Abahzafree submitted that the way they handled the bag showed they had common intention of trafficking the drug. Thus, he urged the court to dismiss the appeal and affirmed the High Court's decision. Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/05/15/filipino-duo-escape-the-gallows/#ixzz1ut9XePd4
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!