MALAYSIA. MAN ESCAPES DEATH SENTENCE AFTER DRUG CHARGE REDUCED

Zulkifli Latif escaped the death sentence after his drug trafficking charge was reduced to one of possession by the Malaysian High Court. Justice Datuk Abdull Hamid Embong sentenced Latif, 24, to 10 years imprisonment and 10 lashings after he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of possessing 202gm of cannabis. Zulkifli was to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest on September 10, 2002. The judge told him that he should consider himself lucky and be thankful to the prosecution for reducing the trafficking charge which would have meant the mandatory death sentence on conviction. Zulkifli was caught by police in Taman Batu Muda with four slabs of cannabis in his sling bag.