PUTRAJAYA: Two foreign nationals escaped the gallows for trafficking in methamphetamine at two airports and were sentenced to 15 years jail instead for possession of the drugs.
The Federal Court three-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat allowed the appeals by Vietnamese national Tran Thi Tat and Indian national Makesh Kumar Ramachandran to set aside their convictions and death sentence for drug trafficking.
She substituted the charges against the duo from trafficking to possession as, in both cases, the High Court had used double presumption of possession and trafficking to secure their conviction.
The Federal Court nine-member bench, in its decision in the case of Alma Nudo Atenza, had struck down the provision the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 which allows the use of double presumption to secure the conviction of those accused of drug trafficking.
Tran, 37, a farmer in Vietnam and Makesh, 41, a labourer, were given a 15-year jail term to run from the date of their arrest respectively on Nov 9, 2013, and Nov 28, 2014.
The court also ordered Makesh to be given 10 strokes of the cane.
The panel which also comprised Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli and Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof had heard the two cases separately.
Tran was found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court on March 27, 2017, for trafficking 1669.7gm of methamphetamine at the domestic arrival hall of the Sultan Mahmud Airport in Kuala Terengganu on Nov 9, 2013.
Makesh was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court on Jan 20, 2018, for trafficking in 644.8gm of methamphetamine in the baggage claim section of the arrival hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, on Nov 28, 2014.
Both of them lost their appeals in the Court of Appeal.
Lawyer Ghazali Ismail represented Tran and counsel T.Vijayandran appeared for Makesh.
Deputy public prosecutor Samihah Rhazali appeared for the prosecution in both cases.-Bernama
