PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set April 28 to hear an appeal by Nasyid singer and composer Muhammad Yasin Sulaiman, who is currently serving life imprisonment after being convicted for three drug-related offences.
Muhammad Yasin’s lawyer, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, confirmed the hearing date when contacted by Bernama today.
On Aug 22 last year, the Shah Alam High Court convicted him on three charges of cultivating cannabis plants, drug possession and self-administering drugs.
The ‘Mimpi Laila’ singer was sentenced to life imprisonment and six strokes of the cane for cultivating 17 cannabis plants in plastic pots.
For possessing 193.7 grams of cannabis-type drugs, he was sentenced to eight years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane. Additionally, he was given a 10-month sentence for the self-administration of a dangerous drug.
Muhammad Yasin, 49, was initially acquitted and discharged in 2023 by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court for the three charges. However, he was ordered to be placed at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor.
Sessions Court judge Faiz Dziyauddin had acquitted and discharged Muhammad Yasin of all the charges on the grounds that at the time of the incident, the singer was in an unsound mental state even though he was aware of his actions.
The prosecution then appealed the acquittal, and the High Court overturned the lower court’s decision, finding Muhammad Yasin guilty of all charges.
Under the first charge, Muhammad Yasin was found guilty by the High Court of possessing 193.7 grammes of cannabis at a condominium in Kota Damansara on March 24, 2022.
The second charge relates to his cultivating cannabis plants at the same location and date.
The third charge is for self-administering a dangerous drug, ‘11-nor-delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid’ at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters on the same date.
