Actor Farid to spend Raya in jail for drug abuse

PETALING JAYA: It will be a bleak Hari Raya for actor cum director Datuk Farid Kamil Zahari as he will spend the festive season behind bars after he was sentenced to nine months in jail for drug abuse.

Yesterday, the 38-year-old actor was found guilty by a magistrate’s court here after the court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Magistrate Nor Ariffin Hisham also did not allow a stay of execution pending an appeal, meaning that Farid would have to serve his time in Kajang Prison starting on the date of sentencing.

The actor, who is married to actress Datin Diana Danielle, was supposed to enter his defence yesterday by way of testimony under oath but chose to remain silent instead.

During mitigation lawyer Megat Syazlee Mokhtarom, who represented Farid, asked the court to impose a fine and not a jail sentence as the accused was the main breadwinner of his family.

“My client has a wife and two children. He is self-employed as an actor and director. It would be hard for him to care for his family if he is imprisoned,” Megat said.

Megat informed the court that his client also pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of providing false information involving the same case.

DPP Alia Sumayyah Amran, however, asked the court to mete out a heavy sentence as the trial has commenced with five prosecution witnesses called to the stand.

Farid was accused of using the “11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid” or THC drug at the narcotics office, Petaling Jaya district police headquarters at 4.30pm on Jan 11, last year.

On May 8, the actor was slapped with a RM2,000 fine after he admitted to giving false evidence in a police report pertaining to his drug case.

Farid claimed three celebrity friends spiked his drink with drugs in a police report last year.