KOTA KINABALU: A single mother of nine shed tears of joy when the Court of Appeal here on Tuesday (Sept 12) overturned her death sentence for a drug trafficking conviction and sentenced her to 12 years' jail for a lesser charge.
Hairun Jalmani had spent more than five years in jail after she was sentenced to death by the Tawau High Court on Oct 15, 2021.
She was found guilty of trafficking 113.9g of syabu under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The 62-year-old Filipina was arrested for the offence at a house in Kampung Pengkalan Wakuba, Jalan Apas, in Tawau on Jan 10, 2018.
In a unanimous decision, Court of Appeal judges Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said handed down the sentence after changing the conviction into drug possession under Section 39A (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The Court instructed her to serve her jail term from the date she was arrested.
Her lawyers, Sherzali Herza Asli and Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip had submitted a representation letter to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) on Aug 29, seeking to overturn their client's death by hanging conviction and to replace it with Section 39A(2) of the same Act.
They represented Hairun on a pro-bono basis in the appeal.
On Sept 6, the AGC responded that it was agreeable to accept the appellant's representation.
Under Section 39A (2) of the Act.
Sherzali, during mitigation for Hairun, told the court that she had moved to Malaysia from the Philippines to foster a better future for her children.
He said after the death of her husband, Hairun was her family's sole breadwinner and the scarcity of jobs and being undocumented led to her committing the offences.
