JOHOR BARU: Three friends have escaped the gallows after the High Court here freed them of distributing drugs amounting to more than 4.5kg.
The accused Tarji Suwoto, 65, Rojeb Imarom, 56, and Firdaus Hashim, 29, were discharged after the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
The three, who worked as mechanics, faced two counts of distributing 4,207.66g of ketamine and 369.14g of methamphetamine at a house in Kampung Teluk Ramunia, Pengerang at around 11am on June 27, 2021.
In his judgement, High Court Judge Kan Weng Hin said the first and second accused got down from their vehicle without taking anything with them such as the exhibits, which were found inside the house.
“Based on all the facts, the drugs were found in the room, not where the accused were and the prosecution did not establish who pointed out the drugs.
“It cannot be all three of them pointed out. It must have been someone else,” he said, adding that this raised doubts.
The three men were charged under Section 39B(1)(A) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and could be punished under Section 39B(2), which carries a death sentence or lifetime imprisonment with up to 12 strokes of the cane.
Deputy public prosecutor Umar Faiz Abdul Kohor led the prosecution while the three were represented by their respective counsels John Fernandez, Selvanteran Segaran and Lydiana Mansor.
A total of five prosecution witnesses were called from when the trial started on Aug 21, 2024 until May 13 this year.
