MALAYSIA: FILIPINO WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR COCAINE TRAFFICKING

A Filipina was sentenced to death by the High Court in Malaysia for trafficking in cocaine which was found dissolved in a wet towel.
Judge Datuk Siti Mariah Ahmad sentenced Jeanette Congcan Opena, 32, a cybercafe owner, after finding her guilty of committing the offence at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport  at 3.30pm on Dec 4, 2008.
She said she found Jeanette's defence was a mere denial and unbelievable.
"I found her to have knowledge of the drugs and that she was not an innocent carrier.
"She is an educated person and when she was given a smelly towel to be brought into the country, she should have been suspicious."
Siti Mariah said Jeanette's defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
Deputy public prosecutor Redha Abdah Subri prosecuted.
Counsel Sreekant Pillai represented Jeanette. Nine witnesses testified in the trial.