Two factory workers convicted of trafficking in cannabis...

Two factory workers convicted of trafficking in cannabis escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal acquitted one of them and reduced the charge against the other.
Muhamad Safarudin Baba, 22, was acquitted while Mohd Ashraf Endut, 21, was sentenced to 12 years' jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan for possessing the cannabis.
Ashraf and Muhamad Safarudin had been sentenced to death by High Court judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail on May 15, 2000. They were found guilty of trafficking in 1,031.9gm of cannabis on January 14, 1999.
However Appeal Court judges Datuk Mokhtar Sidin and Datuk Wira Mohd Noor Ahmad, and High Court judge Datuk Faiza Tamby Chik ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict Muhamad Safarudin and took into account that Ashraf was a first-time offender.