KOTA KINABALU: A 36-year-old foreigner sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane after he was found guilty of trafficking 105.27g of syabu.
Sisal Hassan, a Filipino, was convicted under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for either the death penalty or life imprisonment and whipping, upon conviction.
High Court judge Leonard David Shim, in his ruling on Thursday (Aug 3), held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court, he said, found the accused guilty of the offence he committed over three years ago.
"Based on the facts and circumstances of the case, the accused is sentenced to life imprisonment, defined as a 30-year jail term under Section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1953, and to be given 12 strokes," he said.
Justice Shim further ruled that the defence had not managed to raise any reasonable doubt that the accused did not have the drugs.
The court, he said, held that the defence had not rebutted the statutory presumption of trafficking under Section 37(da) of the Dangerous Drugs Act on the balance of probabilities.
Sisal was charged with committing the offence by the roadside in Manggatal, near here, at 5.10pm on April 11, 2019.
The court also ordered the accused to be referred to the Immigration Department after completing his sentence.
The accused, who has been held in detention since his arrest, will be serving his sentence from April 11, 2019.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Hajar Mazlan appeared for the prosecution while lawyer Mark Sitiwin represented the accused.
