Kota Kinabalu: A 43-year-old labourer was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane for having 33.50gm of syabu.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus meted out the sentence to Arkim Siroma who was found guilty of the charge against him on Wednesday.
The court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against Arkim and convicted him of the charge for having the drug at 11.20am on Oct 16, 2024 at a hill of Kg Lok Buno Sepanggar, Manggatal.
The offence under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) and punishable under Section 39A(2) of the DDA provides for jail between five years and life imprisonment and whipping of at least 10 strokes of the cane, on conviction.
The court ordered Arkim to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest and referred to the Immigration Department after serving the jail sentence.
In mitigation, Arkim asked for leniency.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Shafeerah Mad Iskim who conducted the prosecution, urged the court to impose a heavy sentence as the offence was serious and rampant.
The prosecution had three witnesses to testify and four witnesses during the defence stage.
