MALAYSIA: DRUG TRAFFICKER TO HANG AFTER APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE

October 23, 2019:

The Court of Appeal of Kuching on 22 October 2019 upheld the death sentence on a 30-year-old man for trafficking 855.8 grammes of methamphetamine three years ago.
A three-member panel comprising Dato Zaleha Yusof, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah unanimously rejected Lai Thai Leong’s appeal against his conviction under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“In this regard, we affirm the conviction of the appellant who was sentenced by the High Court,” said Justice Zaleha, who chaired the panel, after hearing submissions from Lai’s lawyer Osman Ibrahim and prosecutor DPP Tengku Intan Suraya Tengku Ismail.
Lai committed the offence at 11am on 12 May 2016 at a car park at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Kuching.
According to the facts of the case, he had picked up a parcel from a courier office when he was apprehended by police, and reacted by throwing away the parcel.
Two witnesses had testified that Lai had thrown the parcel on the floor, thus indicating that he knew the contents of the parcel.
He was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court in Kuching on 19 April 2018.