KUCHING: Four final-year students at a tertiary institution here shed tears of joy when they were released from the charge of possessing 33.69gm of cannabis and the charge of planting a cannabis tree behind their rented home by the Sessions Court yesterday.
Fakrullah Aqmal Mohamad Roslan, 24; Mohd Sarhan Suriansah, 21; Muhammad Hafiz Azmi Mohamad Yahya, 22 and Muhammad Nashihin Mat Zaidi, 23 were relieved when Judge Mohd Taufik Mohd @ Mohd Yusoff gave his decision on the case.
“The court finds that the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case against all four accused.
“Accordingly, all the accused are released from all charges without calling for their defence,” he said in a court proceeding around 3.15pm yesterday.
The four accused each faced two charges in this case.
For the first charge, they were accused of planting a 10cm tall cannabis plant behind their house at Kampung Atas Sungai Cina, Matang on Feb 25 at 4pm.
They were charged under Section 6B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (ADB) 1952, punishable under Section 6B (3) of the same act read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, they could be jailed for life and sentenced to at least six strokes of the whip.
For the second charge, they were accused of possessing 33.69gm of cannabis at the same time and place.
For those offences, they were charged under Section 6 of the ADB 1952, punishable under Section 39 (A) 1 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years in jail and may be fined and given a maximum of three strokes and not more than nine strokes of the rotan.
Meanwhile, Fakrullah and Sarhan were also released from another charge of possessing 154.23gm and 76.49gm of cannabis.
Both defendants were charged under Section 6 of ADB 1952 and could be sentenced under Section 39 (A) 2 of the same act.
Upon conviction, they can be jailed for life or imprisonment of not less than five years, fined and given not less than 10 strokes of the whip.
According to facts of the case, several case items such as cannabis grinders and digital weighing machines were also found at the house during the raid.
Police also found seven small transparent plastic packets each containing dried leaves suspected to be cannabis.
Fakrullah and Sarhan were represented by lawyers Osman Ibrahim and Fadzillah Osman.
Hafiz was represented by counsel Michael Tiang while Nashihin was represented by counsel Abdul Rahman and Roy Angau Dato Gingkoi.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Daniel Ilham Kamaruddin.