Pendakwa Raya v 1. ) MOHAMAD AMINUDDIN BIN MD ARIFFIN 2. ) FIQRI MUSTAQIM BIN ZAKARIA

Case Significance

A trafficking conviction under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 on the section 37(da) presumption, illustrating the exercise of sentencing discretion under the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 to impose life imprisonment fixed at 30 years and caning rather than death.

This High Court decision at Shah Alam sets out the grounds for the conviction and sentence of two accused for drug trafficking. The two accused had been jointly charged, in furtherance of a common intention under section 34 of the Penal Code, with trafficking in 2,709.2 grams of cannabis, an offence under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 punishable under section 39B(2), the drugs having been found in the boot of a car. They claimed trial. At the close of the prosecution case, having made a maximum evaluation of the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and the documentary exhibits, the Court found that a prima facie case had been made out and called on both accused to enter their defence, the trafficking being supported by the statutory presumption in section 37(da) of the Act. The central issues at the defence stage were whether the defence had raised a reasonable doubt about the drugs found in the car boot and whether it had rebutted the section 37(da) presumption. The Court held that the defence had failed to rebut the presumption or to raise a reasonable doubt, and that the conviction was safe. On sentence, the prosecution urged that the public interest outweighed the personal interests of the accused, that drugs are an enemy of the nation and that, given the weight of the cannabis, the death penalty should be imposed. The Court noted, however, that the accused benefited from the coming into force of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, under which the death sentence is no longer mandatory for an offence under section 39B. Exercising the discretion that Act confers, the Court declined to impose the death penalty and instead imposed the alternative sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of the accused's natural life, fixed at 30 years, together with not less than 12 strokes of the cane.