BRUNEIAN'S DEATH PENALTY QUASHED BY APPEALS COURT

a 28 year old Brunei fisherman, caught in an anti-drug raid and condemned to die, escaped the gallows when the Brunei Appeals Court set him free. Haji Mohd Seriwan was charged with possession of 279.194g of Methylamphetamine, a Class A drug, at house No 12, Simpang 245-5-10, Kampong Mentiri, Muara on March 9, 2004 and sentenced to face the hangman's noose by the Chief Justice Dato Mohd Saied and Justice Dato Steven Chong on May 13, 2006. But Appeals Court Judges P Power, J A Mortimer and J A Davis freed the man saying that the conviction was unsafe because it failed to give full consideration to defence evidence. Also, the previous court had failed to allow prosecution witnesses to be recalled for cross-examination "as to credit".