Fateful day: Yasin (right) being ushered out of a vehicle after arriving at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya for his final appeal hearing. — Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: Singer-composer Yasin escaped life imprisonment and 16 strokes of the cane after the Court of Appeal allowed his final appeal against the drug charges he faced the last three years.
A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali allowed the appeal of the singer, whose real name is Muhammad Yasin Sulaiman, and set aside the Shah Alam High Court’s sentence.
The appellate court had also reinstated the Sessions Court’s decision to acquit him and send him to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor.
The other judges on the Bench were Justices Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azmi Ariffin.
Justice Che Mohd Ruzima said Yasin’s claim of suffering from bipolar disorder is not merely a bare assertion.
He said from his medical history, four hospitals had confirmed that he is suffering from bipolar disorder, which was detected between 2007 and 2013.
Justice Che Mohd Ruzima further said this indicated that Yasin had experienced a relapse of his medical condition and had been receiving treatment.
“We find that although the appellant (Yasin) committed the offences as charged, he cannot be convicted due to his mental incapacity at the time of the incident,” he said, Bernama reported.
He added that the Sessions Court judge had not erred in addressing the issue of legal insanity based on the testimony of Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony, a forensic psychiatry consultant from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta.
“We find that the High Court misdirected itself in overturning the trial judge’s findings, which were based on the evidence presented,” he said.
In 2023, Sessions Court judge Faiz Dziyauddin acquitted Yasin of all the charges on the grounds that at the time of incident, the singer was in an unsound mental state even though he was aware of his actions.
However, the Shah Alam High Court later allowed the prosecution’s appeal and convicted Yasin on three charges – cultivating 17 cannabis plants, possession of 193.7g of cannabis and self-administration of dangerous drugs.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with six strokes of the cane for cultivating the plants, eight years’ jail and 10 strokes for drug possession, and a 10-month jail term for the self-administration of a dangerous drug.
Outside the court, Yasin’s elder brother, Zain Sulaiman, said it was a meaningful day for the singer, who had spent about three years behind bars.
