Boon Sim, flanked by his lawyer Chin (left) and Lim, outside the courtroom.
KUCHING: A hawker walked out a free man after a Court of Appeal yesterday discharged and acquitted him from life imprisonment and six strokes of the cane for kidnapping a man three years ago.
Judges Datuk Mohamd Ariff Md Yusof, Datuk Rohana Yusuf and Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer made a unanimous decision to allow 35-year-old Chong Boon Sim’s appeal on the ground that there was contradiction in the evidence.
The High Court sentenced him on April 24, 2012.
Among others, his defence counsels Roger Chin and Lim Heng Choo told the court yesterday that the case was defective as it had referred to two persons yet to be arrested but actually there was only one person who was still at large.
They said another person who had been arrested was never called as a witness.
The counsels also submitted that the ransom, as stated in the charge sheet, was for the purpose of releasing the victim but in the witness testimony, it was meant for the killing.
Boon Sim, from Kampung Lintang, was said to be involved in the kidnapping of Chong Chun Ming at about 5.30pm on Feb 7, 2010 and at allegedly demanded a RM200,000 ransom from his family.
Boon Sim was charged under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961.
In the same court room, an Indian national man walked free after he was also discharged and acquitted from a charge of possessing 5.796kg Ketamine two years ago.
Mohammed Sulaiman Sahulhameed was initially sentenced to death by a High Court.
Yesterday, Sulaiman, who was represented by counsel CM Sundram had his appeals against the death sentence allowed on the ground that he did not know the existence of the drug which was kept in a television set when he arrived at Kuching International Airport at about 10.15am on May 17, 2009.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234) and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same code which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.