PUTRAJAYA: A 76-year-old former security guard who had been facing the gallows could yet see life outside prison after his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment of 30 years by the Federal Court.
Jun Lam @ Chin See Kong was among nine individuals whose death sentences were commuted.
The five-member panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat yesterday allowed Jun Lam’s review application under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act.
Justice Tengku Maimun set aside the death sentence imposed on him and substituted it with life imprisonment of 30 years.
She also ordered him to serve the sentence from Dec 3, 2006, the date of his arrest, Bernama reported.
The other judges were Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Chief Judge of Malaya Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court judges Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Abu Bakar Jais.
Jun Lam, whose Muslim name is Idris Chin Abdullah, could be out by 2026 just before he turns 80 with one third remission for good behaviour. He has been in prison for 17 years.
Deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi did not object to the review application.
On Oct 10, 2008, the High Court sentenced him to death after finding him guilty of trafficking in 1,558g of ketamine at Gate C11, Satellite Building of the KL International Airport in Sepang on Dec 3, 2006.
Jun Lam lost his appeals at the Court of Appeal on Jan 9, 2012 and at the Federal Court on March 20, 2014.
Meanwhile, the other eight individuals, including two foreign nationals, also had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment of 30 years.
They were all ordered to serve their sentences from their date of arrest.
They are Ghana citizen Emmanuel Yaw Tieku, 60, Liberian national Nobies Weah Ezike, 52, Mohd Zaiham Mislan, 48, Mohamad Che Tam, 62, Faiz Khairudin, 53, Siew Yoke Keong, 56, Wong Hong, 68, and Phung Geok Hoay, 70.
