Appeals court upholds businessman's death sentence for drug trafficking

The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya today upheld the death sentence imposed on a businessman for trafficking in 9.528kg of cannabis.

This followed a decision by a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, comprising justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail, See Mee Chun, and Azmi Ariffin, dismissing the appeal by Mohammad Firdaus Mohsin, 38, to set aside his conviction and death sentence.

Justice Hadhariah, in delivering the court's decision, said there were no merits in the appeal by Firdaus.

She said Firdaus's conviction was safe to be upheld.

On Dec 3, 2021, the High Court in Shah Alam found Firdaus guilty of trafficking in the drug by the roadside of Jalan Bukit in front of the Kajang KTMB train station in the Hulu Langat district, Selangor, at 10pm on March 28, 2017.

Firdaus has one more avenue of appeal, which is to the Federal Court.

According to the facts of the case, a police team, acting on information, went to the area and saw Firdaus, who was behaving suspiciously and carrying two bags.

A police officer approached him and asked him to open the bags. They found several slabs of compressed dried leaves in one of the bags, which were later confirmed by the chemistry department to be cannabis.

In his defence, Firdaus claimed that the bag was not his but belonged to an Uber driver, and he was taking care of the bag while waiting for the Uber driver to park the car.

He claimed that he came to Kuala Lumpur from Penang to attend an event and was waiting for his uncle to fetch him to his (uncle's) house in Sungai Ramal, Kajang.

During the trial, the Uber driver, Mohd Sabri Salleh, testified that he received a booking from Firdaus through the Uber apps to send the latter from KL Sentral to the Kajang KTM station.

He said he saw Mohammad Firdaus carrying the bags, and he (Firdaus) had put the bags next to him (Firdaus) in the back seat of the car.

Lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi represented Firdaus, while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution.