MALAYSIA. COURT REINSTATES DEATH SENTENCE ON MAN FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

Abdul Manap Mohamad Hassan, 51, had his hopes for freedom dashed when the Federal Court in Malaysia reinstated the death sentence on him for trafficking in 62.09 grams of heroin in March 1996.
In allowing the prosecution's appeal, the court said that judging from the manner in which the drug was carried in small plastic packets and taking into consideration the amount of the drug, the reasonable inference to be drawn was that Abdul Manap was in fact carrying it for the purpose of trafficking.
Evidence showed that 39.77grams of heroin were found in a number of plastic packets tucked in his waist, 50 packets containing 9.09gm in the right side pocket, 30 packets (5.57gm) in the left side pocket of his track suit and another 20 small packets (7.66gm) in each of the right and left pockets of his trousers.
In its 33-page judgment, the court said that bearing in mind the large quantity of drugs involved, it could not be seriously contended that the drug was for his own consumption. The court reversed the Appellate Court's decision which allowed Abdul Manap's appeal and sentenced him to 16 years' jail and 10 strokes of the rotan after reducing the charge of drug trafficking to possession.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court had originally sentenced Abdul Manap to death on August 27, 1997, after finding him guilty of trafficking in the drug at a bus stop in Jalan Hishamuddin, Kuala Lumpur, on March 23, 1996.