MELAKA: A former deliveryman charged with trafficking 10.8 kilogrammes of drugs escaped the death penalty after the High Court here today acquitted and discharged him of the charge.
Judge Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid ordered Yee Kok Chong, 44, to be freed after finding the prosecution had failed to establish a case against him.
In the judgment, he said, the prosecution’s failure to present important witnesses had prejudiced the accused.
“Therefore, the court finds that the prosecution failed to prove a reasonable doubt against the accused and therefore the court acquits and discharges the accused,“ he said.
Yee was charged with trafficking Methamphetamine weighing 10,898 grammes on a wooden bench at Persimpangan Lereh 3, next to a school in the Melaka Tengah district at about 7.05 pm on January 14, 2021.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides the death penalty or life imprisonment upon conviction.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Firdaus Saleh while the accused was represented by lawyers Haresh Mahadevan and Ramzani Idris.