Five Indian nationals get death sentence for drug trafficking

SEREMBAN: The High Court here on Wednesday (March 15) ordered five Indian nationals to be hanged to death after finding them guilty of trafficking methamphetamine and ketamine five years ago in Port Dickson.

Judge Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan handed down the sentence on Radhakrishan Syam, Fazil Farook, Sainabdeen Siyad, Abdul Kalam Sajeev, and Salim Sabeer, aged 30 to 44, after finding that the defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt at the end of its case.

According to the first and third charge, the five men, all plantation workers, were jointly charged with trafficking 1,510.17 grammes of Methamphetamine and 2,789.56 grammes of ketamine at a house in Kawasan Takau Mukim Linggi, Port Dickson, at about 6.30 pm on Aug 3, 2018.

They were charged under Section 39B(1)(C) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides the death sentence upon conviction.

Meanwhile, Judge Azizul Azmi also found the five men guilty of the second charge of possessing 996.2 grammes of a substance containing pseudoephedrine on the same day, time and place, under Section 9(1) of the Poisons Act 1952, and ordered each of them to be imprisoned for four years.

A total of 18 witnesses were called by the prosecution, handled by Deputy Public Prosecutors Ala’uddin Baharom and Husni Fairos Ramly, to testify at the trial that began on Oct 13, 2020.

Lawyer Datuk Hariharan Tara Singh, representing the five accused, said he would appeal the High Court's decision. - Bernama