KOTA KINABALU: The Magistrate’s Court yesterday sentenced a local man to three years in jail and ordered him to be whipped thrice, while his co-accused was freed, from a joint charge of possessing 23.29 grams of syabu.
Magistrate Norhamizah Shaiffuddin found Syazwi Azren Jusoh, 24, guilty of having the drug in a house at Taman Putrajaya in Telipok on Feb 8, 2011.
He was convicted under Section 39A (1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for a jail term of between two and five years, and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.
Syazwi’s co-accused, Yusriez Abdul Amat, 23, was however acquitted and discharged after Norhamizah ruled that Yusriez had cast doubt on the prosecution’s case related to the issue of possession and knowledge.
She opined that there was reasonable chance that Yusriez might not have known what Syazwi brought inside the brown bag.
“Yusriez is hereby acquitted of the charge against him and Syazwi is hereby convicted of the charge,” ruled Norhamizah.
Deputy public prosecutor Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin had called five witnesses to testify with the defence producing two witnesses.
Syazwi was defended by counsels Rizwandean Bukhari Borhan and Safrin Saleh Nain while counsel Datu Baginda Datu Laja acted for Yusriez.