Kota Kinabalu: A 45-year-old wireman was sentenced to death by the High Court here for trafficking 6,696.4gm of syabu.
High Court Judge Datuk Alexander Siew How Wai meted out the sentence to Julpekal Mohammad on Wednesday, which was fixed for sentencing.
Julpekal was found guilty of committing the offence at 10pm on May 8, 2022, at the car park in front of the GMart supermarket in Taman Sri Rugading, Tuaran.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment for life and whipping of not less than 15 strokes on conviction.
The court said that the defence, in mitigation, urged the court to exercise leniency and impose an imprisonment sentence from the date of arrest, submitting that Julpekal was a first-time offender who could rehabilitate and support his family upon release.
However, the prosecution stressed that the large quantity of drugs involved showed Julpekal played a significant role in trafficking and called for a deterrent sentence given the serious and widespread impact of drug offences in Sabah.
In delivering his decision, the judge agreed with the prosecution’s submissions.
On March 26, Siew found Julpekal guilty of the offence charged and convicted him.
In his decision, Siew held that Julpekal’s defence was not credible and failed to raise a reasonable doubt, and that he had also failed to rebut the presumption of trafficking on a balance of probabilities, with the prosecution having proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court fixed Wednesday for sentencing to allow parties to make submissions.
Six prosecution witnesses and one defence witness testified during the trial.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Dacia Jane Romanus appeared for the prosecution, while Julpekal was represented by counsel Dominic Chew.
