MALAYSIAN COURT FREES HONG KONG MAN FACING DEATH

Malaysia's highest court freed a Hong Kong man, overturning his death sentence for alleged drug trafficking and ruling that police fabricated evidence against him.
A three-judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal ruled there was insufficient evidence to hang Chan King Yu, who was arrested for alleged possession of methamphetamine while on a business trip in Malaysia. "I'm happy. I don't know what to say," Chan, 37, who also holds a British passport, told reporters after his handcuffs were removed. He was sentenced to death by the High Court in 2002 after prosecutors said police found more than 9 kilograms of the drug in his hotel room in Kuala Lumpur during a raid two years earlier. Chan's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, argued that police framed his client by breaking into his room and planting the drug. The court ruled that Chan should be acquitted because it was unclear whether he knew the drugs were in his room. The judges also said previous court decisions failed to take into account discrepancies in witness testimony.