PUTRAJAYA: A mechanic convicted of trafficking in 10.53g of methamphetamine escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal acquitted and discharged him here on Wednesday (Oct 19).
A Court of Appeal three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, in acquitting and discharging Ben Khaled Abd Molok, ruled that the drug trafficking conviction against him was not safe.
He said there was a misdirection by the High Court judge in not considering the prosecution's failure to ensure the attendance of a material witness offered to the defence after the court ordered Ben Khalid to enter his defence.
The other two judges were Justices Datuk Wira Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and Datuk Hashim Hamzah.
Ben Khaled, who is paralysed from the waist down, was found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court on Aug 17, 2020 for trafficking in the drug at a car workshop in Jalan Tago, Taman Perindustrian Tago, Sri Damansara, Gombak, Selangor at 4pm on Feb 12, 2019.
The 42-year-old man, who was in a wheelchair, withdrew his appeal against his conviction, three-year jail sentence and three lashes of the cane for possession of 0.73g of nimetazepam, an ingredient in Erimin 5 pills.
He had completed the jail term, but was brought back to prison as he had yet to be whipped.
His lawyer Afiffuddin Ahmad Hafifi said because of his client's current condition, a medical officer had to certify that Ben Khaled was fit before the lashes could be meted out.
Section 291 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that the court may in its discretion substitute whipping with imprisonment, he added.
According to Ben Khaled's other lawyer Hafizuddin Salehuddin, the mechanic became paralysed in 2020 due to tuberculosis which affected his spine.
Justice Kamaludin then told Ben Khaled's lawyers that their client could go back to the High Court to seek further direction or substitution for the whipping sentence if he was certified unfit.
DPP Eu Ghim Siang appeared for the prosecution. – Bernama
