Ugandan citizen gets jail, whipping for drug possession

PETALING JAYA: A Ugandan citizen was sentenced to eight years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane by the sessions court here today, after he was found guilty of possessing heroin and morphine, two years ago.
Judge Azwarnida Affandi handed down the sentence on Ibrahim Wamala, 37, after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts at the end of the defence case.
The court ordered the man, who entered the country with a student visit pass but was not registered as a student at any higher learning institution, to serve the prison sentence from the date he was arrested on Sept 2, 2016.
"The court found that the accused's testimony was mere denial," said Azwarnida after hearing the testimonies of four prosecution witnesses and a defence witness in the trial.
According to the charge, Ibrahim allegedly had in his possession heroin and monoacetylmorphines weighing 6.85/g, which were under his control, at the Ridzuan Condo car park in Sungai Way here, at 10pm on Sept 2, 2016.
He was charged under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39A (2) of the same act read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a life sentence or imprisonment for a term not less than five years and shall also be liable to whipping of not less than 10 strokes.
In mitigation the accused who was represented by counsel Richard Ho, appealed for a light sentence on the grounds that the drugs involved was a small amount and he had no previous criminal record.
Deputy public prosecutor Norazalina Razali urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence to reflect the court's seriousness in handling drug cases which was getting more rampant and widely reported by the mass media. — Bernama