MALAYSIA: ACEHNESE WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH

a court in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, passed the death sentence on an Acehnese migrant worker from Indonesia named Junaidi Nurdin, 32, for distributing 979 grams of hemp in the country. The verdict was read out by Judge Tuan Abang Iskandar Tuan Abang Hasyim at a session of the Shah Alam Higher Court, the defendant's interpreter, Saiful Aiman, said. Junaidi was arrested by the Malaysian police on April 6, 2004, after an undercover policeman, Yusuf Bin Said, arranged a meeting to buy hemp in a restaurant. At the time, Junaidi had 1 kg of hemp and offered it to the policeman for RM 2,000. Junaidi is planning to appeal to the Putrajaya Supreme Court.