Mat Sabu’s son freed from drug abuse charges after Appeals Court upholds acquittal

PETALING JAYA: The son of former defence minister Mohamad Sabu has been released and acquitted of drug abuse charges.

The decision was made by a panel of three Court of Appeal judges chaired by Kamaludin Md Said after rejecting the prosecution's appeal against Ahmad Saiful Islam, 34, on Friday (Aug 26).

In the decision, Kamaludin said, the court did not agree with the prosecution’s argument that the High Court judge was wrong when making the decision to acquit and release the respondent.

In October 2021, Ahmad Saiful was freed from his drug conviction after the High Court set it aside.

According to Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, police had only taken one sample of Ahmad Saiful's urine for analysis.

"The appellant has been deprived of two samples of urine and this strict procedural guideline must be complied with," he said.

On June 24, 2021, a Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Lumpur sentenced Ahmad Saiful, 32, to eight months’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of drug abuse.

The court also ordered him to be monitored by the National Anti-Drug Agency and the police for two years upon completion of his prison sentence.

He was also ordered to pay bail of RM9,000 and surrender his passport to the court, and report to a nearby police station every month.

More to come