KUALA LUMPUR: Former radio presenter Ismahalil Hamzah has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after the Court of Appeal set aside the High Court's decision to acquit him of drug trafficking offences almost five years ago.
In the decision Judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin said the 30-year prison sentence would start on Friday (Aug 7).
The decision was made unanimously by a panel of three judges chaired by Noorin, along with Judges Datuk Radzi Abdul Hamid and Datuk Meor Hashim Abdul Hamid.
The Court of Appeal set aside the High Court's decision to acquit Ismahalil.
The judges found that there were sufficient grounds to allow them to interfere with the High Court Judge's findings at the end of the defence case.
He said the conviction was for an offence under Section 39B(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act.
On July 17, 2023, Ismahalil, 53, was acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on a charge of distributing 374.6g of cannabis at a house in Jalan Semarak, Wangsa Maju in September 2011.
