Photo: Ronnie Chin/The Star
IPOH: The High Court here on Wednesday (June 25) acquitted and discharged three men of trafficking 1,145.5g of cannabis six years ago.
Mohd Nazreen Hazim Abdullah Satar, 35, Mohd Suhaimi Ahmad, 42, and Muhammad Shafiq Shamsuddin, 38, walked free after Justice Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
The trio had been charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for allegedly trafficking cannabis.
They were accused of committing the offence at a house in Taman Pinji Seni on Nov 17, 2019, at about 7.45pm.
In delivering his brief judgment, Justice Bhupindar Singh highlighted several discrepancies in the prosecution’s case, including conflicting testimony in the investigation report related to the seized items, which cast doubt on the case.
He said there was uncertainty over when the items were processed, noting a four-day gap before they were sent for analysis.
“No evidence was presented to confirm whether fingerprinting was conducted, nor was a fingerprint report submitted. The failure to call the forensic officer as a witness also created significant gaps in the prosecution’s case,” he said.
He added that photographs taken at the scene showed the plastic containers to be full of drugs, but they appeared half-full when sent to the chemist, raising questions about whether the items analysed were the same as those seized.
“The court finds that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case against the three accused.
“Therefore, all three are acquitted and discharged without their defence being called,” he said.
Mohd Nazreen was represented by Ranjit Singh Sandhu, Mohd Suhaimi by Charan Singh, and Muhammad Shafiq by V. Santhiran.
Deputy public prosecutor Khazrin Haffiz Khalil appeared for the prosecution.
