Court of Appeal upholds Nigerian’s death sentence

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The accused seen outside the court yesterday.

KUCHING: The Court of Appeal here yesterday upheld the death sentence meted out by the High Court on a Nigerian man for having in his possession 158.06 grammes of syabu in 2016.

Jonas Chihurumnanya’s appeal was unanimously dismissed by a panel of three judges Datuk Zaleha Yusof , Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.

Jonas, who was a liaison officer for Nigerian students here, committed the offence at a gas station at Jalan Canna on June 7, 2016.

According to the facts of the case, the accused drove to the petrol station in the middle of the night and then went to a fast food restaurant where he was arrested by police.

Police subsequently found the drug in the back of the car that he was driving.

Meanwhile, his friend Ifasinachi Dominic Oguzie, who was waiting at the scene, was also arrested and taken to court.

Dominic who was convicted of drug possession however fled during the trial and has not been traced.

According to the attorney for the accused, Counsel Wit Malang, a witness for the case should be called back to explain the existence of disposable diapers in the car driven by the accused which shows that the car was driven by other people before the incident.

However, DPP Mohd Zain Ibrahim said this evidence had never been presented in court, hence, it was not applicable when Jonas made his appeal yesterday.