Kota Kinabalu: A 33-year-old cook was sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane by the High Court, here, Wednesday for trafficking 232.45gm of cannabis, three years ago.
Mohd Aliff Aiman Mohd Nordin was found guilty and convicted of the offence committed at 3.10pm on July 7, 2021 in a house at Taman Austral, Jalan Kepayan Ridge, here.
Judge Amelati Parnell in delivering her judgement, found that the prosecution had proven the case against Aliff beyond reasonable doubt and found that Aliff failed to rebut the presumption of trafficking.
Amelati sentenced Aliff to imprisonment for life, that is a term of 30 years starting from the date of his arrest on July 7, 2021 and 12 lashes of the rotan.
On Jan 24, 2022, Aliff claimed trial to the charge under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment for life and whipping not less than 15 strokes if not sentenced to death, on conviction.
He has since been remanded as the charge against him has no provision for one.
A total of six prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses testified during the trial.
Counsel Datuk Ram Singh, representing Aliff, urged the court not to impose the death penalty and requested a second chance in life, on the grounds that Aliff is still young, married with two children and being the first offender.
“Even the imprisonment for life is severe for him, let alone the death penalty,” Ram submitted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rustam Sanip urged the court to consider not only public interest but also prevalence of the offence in the country, particularly in Sabah, when exercising its discretion.
The offence committed is serious in nature and widespread in Sabah.
DPP Rustam urged the court either to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment.
He submitted that a lenient sentence for the accused would not effectively prevent drug trafficking in the State.
On Tuesday, self-employed Mohd Zakhuan Arief Isah, 37, was also sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to be given 12 lashes of the cane by the same court after he was found guilty of trafficking 999.9gm of cannabis, at at 11.45am on Sept 2, 2020 at Gdex Express (GDEX), Mile 5, Lorong Perindustrian Suria, Kolombong.
Meanwhile, in the Magistrate’s Court, an unemployed was fined RM1,000 or a month’s jail for engaging in online gambling using a handphone.
Syawana Meran, 20, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Wan Farrah Fariza Wan Ghazali to committing the offence at 2.30pm, on Nov 30, 2023 at a premises in Inanam Commercial Centre.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ling Guong Zhi informed the court that Syawana was arrested by a police team who found her to be involved in online gambling activity.
Investigations revealed that a handphone held by Syawana contained online gambling apps, said DPP Ling, adding that RM100 cash was also found with her.
Syawana was charged under Section 7(2) of the Common Gaming House Act which provides for a fine of up to RM5,000 or up to six months jail or both, on conviction.
Syawana, through a counsel, requested a minimum fine as she is currently unemployed, married and recently gave birth.
DPP Ling applied an appropriate sentence and confirmed that Syawana has no previous conviction records.
