Abdoll Mutaleb Raffik had originally been convicted by the High Court in 2019. - ST
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A man on death row for his role in a drug deal avoided the gallows after the Court of Appeal found on Wednesday () that there was insufficient evidence to prove the capital charge against him beyond reasonable doubt.
The apex court allowed Abdoll Mutaleb Raffik’s appeal against his conviction, and sentenced him instead to 10 years’ jail on an amended charge for attempted possession of more than 5.5kg of a granular and powdery substance that was found to contain not less than 212.57g of pure heroin.
Under the law, those who import more than 15g of pure heroin face the death penalty.
Mutaleb had originally been convicted by the High Court in 2019 of engaging in a conspiracy with others to import the bundles of heroin into Singapore, following a joint trial with two accomplices.
His co-accused, Mohd Zaini Zainutdin and Mohd Noor Ismail, had each been sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane. This was because the court found them to be mere couriers and the prosecution certified that they had substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in disrupting drug activities.
The three men’s ages and nationalities were not stated in the judgments.
Zaini and Noor had driven from Malaysia into Singapore with the drugs on Sept 11, 2015, and were arrested at Tuas Checkpoint.
Zaini, monitored by CNB officers, then made a number of telephone calls to Mutaleb. Two CNB officers later took the car and drove to Chai Chee, and handed mock drugs to Mutaleb.
Mutaleb was charged with abetting the importation of the drugs by engaging in a conspiracy with Zaini, Noor and a man known as “Apoi” to bring the drugs into Singapore.
In its judgment on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal said it had concerns over how the original charge against Mutaleb was framed, as there was difficulty proving there was a conspiracy between Mutaleb, Zaini, Noor and Apoi from the evidence presented.
The prosecution’s case on the original charge hinged on Zaini’s testimony that he had overheard a phone conversation between Mutaleb and Apoi, during which they discussed the drug delivery.
However, Zaini’s evidence on this issue kept shifting, said the court comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Tay Yong Kwang and Justice Belinda Ang.
The court also noted that in the recorded phone call between Zaini and Mutaleb on Sept 11, 2015, Mutaleb appeared to be confused when Zaini mentioned Apoi.
“The totality of the evidence could not prove the alleged conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we hold that the trial charge was not proved beyond reasonable doubt because there was no convincing evidence of a conspiracy among the parties named,” it said.
However, the court found that Mutaleb had knowledge of the nature of the drugs that he was supposed to have received on the night in question and that he was involved in illegal drug activities.
The court said there was clearly sufficient evidence to constitute a case against Mutaleb for attempted possession.
The court also dismissed Noor’s appeal against his conviction and sentence. Zaini did not appeal.
