TAWAU: An unemployed man was sentenced to 30 years’ jail and ordered to get 12 strokes of the cane for trafficking over 26kg of cannabis, two years ago.
High Court Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol meted out the sentence to Utuh Derman Isim, 47, after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against Utuh.
Utuh was found guilty of trafficking 26, 215.3gm of cannabis at the stairway of a building in Bandar Sri Indah (BSI), here, at 5pm on Sept 12, 2022.
He was convicted under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punished under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, which provides for a death penalty or life imprisonment, and at least 15 lashes of whipping, upon conviction.
The court ordered Utuh to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on Sept 12, 2022.
During mitigation, counsel Datu Baginda Datu Laja, requested that his client be exempted from the death penalty and instead be given a lighter sentence because this his first offence.
He told the court that Utuh who is still single, needed to support his mother.
Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Nisla Abd Latif urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence considering the weight of the drug.
She said the prosecution acknowledged and respected the abolition of the mandatory death penalty, which gives the court the option to impose a life sentence as a substitute for the death penalty.
However, she emphasised that the sentence depends on the seriousness of the offense and the weight of the drugs involved, especially for offences under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The trial started on Jan 13-16, with seven prosecution witnesses testifying, while Utuh was the sole defence witness.
