MALAYSIA:- DEATH PENALTY DATA & NEWS REPORTS FOR 2005

BRIEF FACTS

In Malaysia capital crimes include murder, rape, drug crimes, treason and possession of arms.
The Penal Code, under Section 302, makes the penalty for murder mandatory death by hanging.
The Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, at Section 39B on possessing and distributing drugs, also carries a mandatory death sentence. Between 1983 and 2002, at least 210 people were hanged in Malaysia for drug-related crimes.
A 1961 law on kidnapping prescribes a life sentence or the death penalty preceded by a whipping.
In January 2003 the death penalty was instated as mandatory punishment for rapists who cause death and child rapists.
The Malaysian High Courts only try criminal cases punishable with the death penalty. Death sentences issued by a High Court can be appealed at the Court of Appeal. If an appeal is unsuccessful a death row inmate can have resort to the Federal Court. The last resort is the State Pardons Board. The King alone is empowered to commute death sentences.
In general about two years pass between the passing of a death sentence and the execution of the person condemned. Some appeals processes however exceeded 10 years.

As of November 11, 2003 a total of 121 death row convicts were awaiting execution in prisons nationwide. The number included four women at the Kajang Prison. Seventy-seven of the people on death row, including three women, were sentenced to death under the Dangerous Drugs Act. Another 36, including one woman, were sentenced to death for committing murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, four people were condemned under Section 3 of the Firearms Act and the remaining four under Section 121 of the Penal Code concerning treason.

On February 3, 2005, Malaysia revealed it had executed 358 people by hanging in the past 24 years. Opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, said he received the statistics from Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in response to a written question submitted in parliament. The figures also revealed that 50 foreign nationals had been hanged. They included seven from Thailand, eight from Hong Kong, 23 from the Philippines and four from Singapore. Two Indonesian had been put to death as well as one each from Australia, Britain and Pakistan. Forty-six of them were hanged for drug offences. Twelve of the executions were for offences under the Internal Security Act.

On December 6, 2005, Malaysian government revealed that from January 2004 to July 2005, approximately 52 convicts had been sentenced to death. From this total number, 36 of them were convicted for trafficking drugs and 16 more were convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The last KNOWN execution was carried out on December 27, 2002, when three men were hanged at the Kajang prison.

NEWS REPORTS - 2005
December, 6 2005: it was reported that the government of Malaysia had no plans to replace the death penalty by hanging with other methods of executions such as using the electric chair or lethal injection even though studies on other options had been undertaken. Deputy Internal Security Minister Chia Kwang Chye also said that from January 2004 to July 2005, approximately 52 convicts had been sentenced to death. "From this total number, 36 of them were convicted for trafficking drugs and 16 more were convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code," he said. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 06/12/2005)

March, 24 2005: it was reported that Malaysia’s hangmen and floggers had won pay rises. For every hanging, executioners would be paid the equivalent of 100 EU (490 Malaysian Ringgits), up from 60 EU.
For every swing of the cane, prison officers flogging convicts would now get the equivalent of 2 Euros, up from 60 cents.
The pay increase for about 50 floggers and executioners, who perform "challenging tasks", was long overdue, said Internal Security Ministry Secretary-General Abdul Aziz Mohamad Yusof.
Illegal migrants would be flogged "gently", said the government. Caning is also imposed for crimes including under-age sex. (Sources: AFP, 24/03/2005)

February, 3 2005: Malaysia revealed it had executed 358 people by hanging in the past 24 years. Opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, said he received the statistics from Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in response to a written question submitted in parliament. The death penalty is imposed in Malaysia for a number of offences, including murder and treason. It is mandatory for drug trafficking. The figures also revealed that 50 foreign nationals had been hanged. They included seven from Thailand, eight from Hong Kong, 23 from the Philippines and four from Singapore. Two Indonesia had been put to death as well as one each from Australia, Britain and Pakistan. Forty-six of them were hanged for drug offences. Twelve of the executions were for offences under the Internal Security Act. (Sources: Radio Australia, 03/02/2005)

September, 17 2005: a Malaysian court sentenced Mardani Hussin, an Indonesian man, to death by hanging for trafficking cannabis. Hussin, 29, a labourer from Aceh province, Indonesia, had reportedly entered Malaysia without a valid permit in April 2002 and committed the offence six months later.
"Many of your fellow countrymen came here to earn a proper living," High Court judge Abdull Hamid Embong was quoted as telling him. "I am sure they are ashamed of your act." Mardani was charged with trafficking 927 grammes (32.5 ounces) of cannabis in the capital on October 22, 2002. He was riding on a motorcycle when he was stopped by police who searched him and seized a parcel with the drug. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 17/09/2005)

August, 31 2005: the Malaysian High Court sentenced Mohamad Che Tam, unemployed, to death after finding him guilty of trafficking in 24.7g of heroin. Mohamad, 44, was also sentenced to four years' jail from the date of his arrest on October 6, 2002, on a second charge of possessing 10.86g of methamphetamine pills that day. He was alleged to have committed both offences near a mosque in Kampung Tor Dor in Kuala Terengganu at 7.10pm that day. (Sources: New Straits Times, 31/08/2005)

July, 5 2005: the Federal Court dismissed the appeal of Mohamad Yazri Minhat against the death sentence imposed by the High Court which found him guilty of trafficking 133 kg of cannabis. Justice Siti Norma said there was no reason for the Federal Court to disturb the decisions made by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The Kuala Lumpur High Court had sentenced Mohamad Yazri, 31, to death on February 22, 1999, for trafficking the cannabis on January 18, 1997. The Court of Appeal on Sept 11, 2002 affirmed the death sentence imposed by the High Court. Mohamad Yazri was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death sentence. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 06/07/2005)

April, 21 2005: Chong Chee Kong, a 46-year-old man who escaped from remand in Johor in 1989, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court for drug trafficking. Kong, who had been on the run, was caught by police in 2001.
Meanwhile, foreman Tong Keng Boon, 29, who was jointly charged with Chong, was acquitted because there were "too many inferences not to convict him".
Judge Datuk Helilah Mohd Yusof took two hours and 15 minutes to read her judgment.
Chong and Tong were charged with trafficking three plastic packets containing 170.6g of methamphetamine in a car in front of a petrol station in Jalan Maharajalela, Dang Wangi, at about 10.45pm on September 21, 2001.
Chong, of Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, faced a second charge of possessing 35 pills at the same time and place. Chong was also convicted of the second offence and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. Helilah said the court took into consideration the testimony of the investigating officer who said police acted on information and laid an ambush. "The police also found a clutch bag containing the three plastic packets beneath the front passenger seat with 15,000 pills of the drug Yaba which had the marking 'WY'." Police also found RM 16,000 in the clutch bag and another RM2,000 on Chong. (Sources: New Straits Times, 21/04/2005)

April, 20 2005: the Malysian Court of Appeal reaffirmed a 2002 High Court ruling sentencing Chan King Yu, a Chinese national, to death for drug trafficking. Judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, in giving the court's unanimous decision, said the appellate court was satisfied that the trial judge was right in convicting Yu, 34.
"The trial judge did not commit an error of law," said Sri Ram, who sat with Datuk Richard Malanjum and Datuk Nik Hashim Nik Abd Rahman.
"We also agree with the prosecution that the trial judge drew the correct inference based on evidence made available to him," he said in dismissing the appeal and confirming the decision of the High Court.
Sri Ram, however, said Chan could appeal to the Federal Court. Chan was charged with trafficking in about 10kg of methamphetamines (syabu) in Bukit Bintang, on June 19, 2000. (Sources: New Straits Times, 20/04/2005)

February, 25 2005: A. Sridhar, a soldier, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court in Bernama for trafficking in 200.2gm of heroin. Lieutenant Corporal Sridhar, 37, an army personnel attached to the store of the Sungai Besi Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base, was found guilty of trafficking in the heroin on September 22 2003. Sridhar, who had served for 14 years, was charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same Act, which carries the mandatory death sentence on conviction. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 25/02/2005)

January, 27 2005: Filipino Nelson Tanoja Diana, 50, was sentenced to death by the High Court of Malaysia for trafficking 508.6gms of cocaine. He had planned to transport the drug from Amsterdam to Thailand when he was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport by Malaysian Customs. 
Judge Datuk K. N. Segara said that after hearing submissions from the prosecution and defence, he found that the accused had knowledge of the drug he carried from Amsterdam to Malaysia.
"You were aware that there were drugs in your bag. So throughout your journey from Amsterdam to Malaysia, you held on to the bag carefully.
"You brought the drugs to Malaysia with the intention of smuggling it into Thailand. That, in law is already an offence, even if you were going to deliver it to Bangkok." He said the fact remained that Nelson, a father of three, had possession of the drug when he was arrested.
"You also did not give any explanation as to why you had the huge amount in your possession. The law says if you have that substantial amount, in this case 12 times more than the minimum, it warrants the presumption of trafficking. "Under these circumstances, the court has no choice but to find you guilty as charged. Under this particular charge, it only bears one sentence - death!" he said. Nelson was charged with trafficking the cocaine on August 22, 2002. (Sources: The Malay Mail, 27/01/2005)

November, 25 2005: V. Alaggandiran, a 26 year old former cashier of a video game arcade, was sentenced to the gallows by the High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, after being found guilty of murdering a factory worker because the latter was in love with his cousin.
Spotting a maroon shirt and blue jeans, Alaggandiran looked at the floor and wiped his face after the sentence was read out.
Alaggandiran was caught on August 16, 2000 and charged with murdering N. Vikneswaran, 17, at the Sungai Buloh industrial area at about 9.15 pm on May 3, 1999. Vikneswaran died of stab wounds in the heart and liver. (Sources: Bernama, 25/11/2005)

November, 22 2005: Ho Sek Kong was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court for the brutal murder of his mother. Ho, 26, stood in the dock listening to the almost hour-long judgment by Justice Datuk Abdull Hamid Embong which was translated into Mandarin for him by a court interpreter. In his oral judgment, Abdull Hamid said he found Ho's version of what happened the day his mother, Cheah Seaw Meng, 52, was murdered, an afterthought, which ended in being a mere denial of the prosecution's case. His intent to murder can be seen from the 55 injuries on the victim's body, which from the pathologist's report, was said to have been caused by an iron pipe and a blunt object, the judge added. (Sources: The Malay Mail, 22/11/2005)

August, 13 2005: former bus driver Hanafi Mat Hassan, 37, failed to overturn his death sentence for the murder of a 24-year-old female computer engineer.
The Court of Appeal in Malaysia affirmed the decision of the Shah Alam High Court, which found him guilty of murdering Noor Suzaily Mukhtar on October 7, 2000.
He was also convicted of raping the victim. For this offence he was sentenced to the maximum 20 years' jail and 12 strokes of the rotan. The jail sentence was to run from the date of the arrest, October 10, 2000. While ordering the death sentence and the jail term to run concurrently, the judge ordered that the death sentence take precedence. Meanwhile, the same panel of judges also upheld the decision of the High Court in Johor Baru which on October 30, 2001 sentenced two men to death for murdering a freshwater fish breeder. Lee Ah Seng, 27, and Lee Kwai Heong, 40, (not related) were found guilty of committing the offence on Sanip Leham, 50. The two committed the offence, together with two others still at large, at a disused pond in Jalan Sungai Rengit, Kota Tinggi, Johor, on October 30, 1998. (Sources: New Straits Times, 13/08/2005)

March, 26 2005: Kenneth Lee Fook Mun, a Malaysian businessman, was sentenced to death after prosecutors won an appeal for harsher punishment over the shooting death of an accountant. Lee originally escaped a death sentence after the High Court convicted him on a lesser charge of culpable homicide for the death of Lee Good Yew, 53, and sentenced him to eight years' in jail. But prosecutors took the case to the Appeal Court, saying the sentence was inadequate. Lee, 53, was originally charged with murdering the accountant by shooting her to death at a highway in Kuala Lumpur in August 2000. He was believed to have been under the influence of alcohol. The Appeal Court voted in favour of the prosecutors and were unanimous in convicting Lee for murder. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 26/03/2005)

March, 21 2005: the Federal Court of Malaysia in Bernama upheld the conviction and death sentence imposed on Francis Antonysamy for murdering a Bangladeshi man in oil palm estate in Temerloh. Francis, 33, had been sentenced to death by the Temerloh High Court for murdering Ali Ahmmed Mohammed Ullah at the Kim Swee Leong oil palm plantation near Kuala Lumpur on August 19, 1994.
Appeal judge Datuk S. Augustine Paul, in reading out the judgment, said the investigation commenced with the discovery of Ali Ahmmed's headless body at the plantation on August 23, 1994. He said the principle witness for the prosecution, M. Meganathan, had told the court that about three to four weeks prior to the incident Francis had told him that to win in the lottery the head of a person was necessary. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 21/03/2005)

March, 7 2005: the Malaysian Court of Appeal postponed indefinitely the decision on the appeal by Hanafi Mat Hassan against his death sentence for killing computer engineer Noor Suzaily Mukhtar. The three-panel bench led by Justice Datuk Richard Malanjum made the ruling after hearing arguments by both the prosecution and the defence. Hanafi, who filed the appeal on April 29, 2002, was sentenced to be hanged to death by the Shah Alam High Court. High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus had also sentenced Hanafi to 20 years maximum imprisonment and to be whipped 12 times after he was found guilty of raping Noor Suzaily. On April 26, 2002, Justice Mohd Hishamudin found Hanafi guilty of committing the offence on the evening of October 7, 2000 at a construction site in Lorong Pegaga, Taman Chi Liung. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 07/03/2005)

August, 26 2005: Took Leng How, a 23-year-old Malaysian man, was sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of murdering an eight-year-old mainland Chinese girl in Singapore. Judge Lai Kew Chai in his verdict said the prosecution had proven its case that Took, a vegetable packer, murdered Huang Na, daughter of a Chinese woman co-worker, in October last year.
"I therefore find you guilty of the offence as charged," Lai said in court.
Took's lawyer, Subhas Anandan, told reporters that his client was planning an appeal against the death sentence, mandatory for murder in Singapore.
Accounts of the case portrayed Took as a friend of the victim and her mother, but suspicion fell on him after he fled Singapore during the investigation before finally giving himself up in Malaysia.
The disappearance of the girl became a sensation in Singapore, where volunteers joined a massive search which ended tragically when Huang Na's naked and decomposing body was found stuffed in a box abandoned in a hill park. (Sources: Afp, 26/08/2005)

August, 2 2005: Malaysia’s highest court has sentenced a Nigerian mother of five to death after refusing to overturn her drug trafficking conviction, a newspaper reported.
A three-man panel of judges from the Federal Court maintained an earlier conviction in March 1999 ruling that Msimanga Lesaly, 40, was guilty of trafficking in 686 grammes of heroin in northern Kedah state in 1997.
Lesaly was caught with the drugs in a bag, after police stopped her and searched her belongings.
Lesaly, who had filed and lost an appeal in September 2004, had made a last-ditch legal attempt to escape the gallows in filing her final appeal in the Federal Court, the Malay-language Berita Harian daily reported. Now, only a royal pardon can commute her sentence.
Leasly’s lawyer has argued that the conviction was flawed as Lesaly was initially detained with another suspect, who was later released.
He claimed that Lesaly did not know the contents of the bag, which she was allegedly carrying for somebody else. (Sources: Dpa, 02/08/2005)

September, 21 2005: Huzairin Azmi, a chronic schizophrenic, escaped the gallows when the Malaysian High Court acquitted him of murder on the grounds of insanity. Justice Datuk Abdull Hamid Embong, however, said that since Azmi, 21, had caused the death of a person, he would be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. In his judgment, Abdull Hamid said the victim, Muhammad Falil Sharbudin, 21, who was on his motorcycle, stopped at a traffic light junction in Jalan Sultan Ismail, when the accused stabbed him in the abdomen and neck with a knife. Huzairin was riding on another motorcycle. When both machines stopped at the traffic lights, he got off the bike, walked up to the victim and stabbed him. The judge said that a report prepared by Dr Rabaiah Mohd Salleh from Hospital Bahagia stated that Huzairin suffered from chronic schizophrenia.
Abdull Hamid said he concluded that Huzairin was not aware of his actions. "The act was carried out by the accused, but there was no intention," he said. As Abdull Hamid read out his judgment, Huzairin sat in the dock with a blank look. When court adjourned and he was approached by his parents, he did not say a word. (Sources: The Malay Mail, 22/09/2005)

September, 8 2005: Lim Hock Boon, 40, escaped the gallows for allegedly trafficking in about a kilogram of cannabis because others had access to a car where the drugs were hidden. Court of Appeal judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, in setting aside the decision of the High Court, said there had been serious miss-directions of law by the trial judge. He said the court viewed the conviction as unsafe and unsatisfactory. "This is a case of trafficking or nothing," he said of the unanimous decision. Hock Boon had been sentenced to death by the High Court in Shah Alam in 2004 for trafficking in the cannabis at a petrol kiosk in Jalan Batu 3 Lama, Klang, at about 3 am on January 28, 2000. (Sources: New Straits Times, 08/09/2005)

September, 6 2005: a Court of Appeal in Malaysia allowed Mohd Fauzi Ridzwan's appeal against a High Court conviction for trafficking in 4.5kg of ganja. Mohd Fauzi and farmer Abdul Rasheed Abdul Rahman, 48, who were jointly charged, had been sentenced to death. In acquitting Mohd Fauzi, justice Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, delivering a unanimous decision, said Mohd Fauzi's conviction could not be sustained because the grounds in finding him guilty were weak. Two others - Abdul Rashid Hamid, 34, and Malkhan Abu Bakar, 40 - who were jointly charged with Mohd Fauzi and Abdul Rasheed, were acquitted by the High Court without their defence being called. The offence was allegedly committed in front of a petrol kiosk in Jalan Masjid Negeri in Penang on April 17, 1998. (Sources: New Straits Times, 06/09/2005)

August, 10 2005: the Malaysian Court of Appeal commuted the death sentence passed on Denish Madhavan, a 33-year-old insurance executive, for drug trafficking. The court instead sentenced Madhavan to 15 years' jail and ordered him to be whipped 10 times under Section 39(a)(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. Justice Datuk Mokhtar Sidin, who sat with Justices Datuk Hashim Mohd Yusoff and Mohd Noor Abdullah, unanimously allowed the appeal, quashing the conviction and death sentence imposed by the High Court on October 31, 2003.
Denish had been charged with trafficking in 3.121kg of cannabis in a room at a house in Jalan Sekoi in Bandar Uda, Johor Baharu, on September 17, 1999. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 10/08/2005)

May, 18 2005: M. Thirunyanam, a coconut seller convicted of murder, escaped the mandatory death sentence when the Court of Appeal in Malaysia reduced the conviction to that of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced him to the maximum jail term of 20 years for the lesser offence. Thirunyanam had been convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court on August 1, 2002 after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend's 12-year-old daughter, R. Parameswari, behind a house in Taiping on October 29, 1999. Counsel Rusli Zain who represented Thirunyanam said his client did not intend to kill the girl. He said Thirunyanam used a small stick to hit the girl on the head out of rage after she uttered harsh words to him. According to the facts of the case, Thirunyanam, who had two previous convictions for stealing and causing injury to another using a dangerous weapon, hit the girl with a stick causing her to pass out. He then carried the girl and threw her into the septic tank of a vacant house adjacent to her mother's. The incident was witnessed by the girl's mother, V. Rajamah, 37. The next day, Thirunyanam and Rajamah went to Penang and were arrested on November 15, 1999 after the police found the girl's decomposed body in the septic tank. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 22/03/2005)

March, 1 2005: restaurant owner Cheah Yoon Lim escaped the gallows when the Malaysian Court of Appeals amended a drug charge from trafficking to possessing 70.2 grammes of the prohibited substance. Court of Appeals Judge Datuk Richard Malanjum, who presided over a three-judge bench with Datuk Hashim Yusoff and Datuk S. Augustine Paul, then sentenced Cheah, 30, to 15 years jail and 10 strokes of the rotan. The three judges unanimously agreed that the Johor Baharu High Court had erred in finding Cheah guilty of trafficking.
"In this case, there was an error in the judgement. A very serious error," said Justice Paul.
Cheah, who was married and hada child, appealed against the Johor Baharu High Court's decision on October 30, 2001 which sentenced him to death after finding him guilty of trafficking 70.2 grammes of monoacetylmorphines. Cheah was alleged to have committed the offence in a parking lot outside the Pangsapuri C apartments in Taman Tangsi in Johor Baharu. He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, an offence punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same act. The death sentence is mandatory upon conviction.
Earlier, lawyer Hisham Teh Poh Teik, who represented Cheah, urged the court to acquit and free his client of the charge. However, Paul said the prosecution had an airtight case against Cheah for being in possession of the drugs. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 01/03/2005)

January, 24 2005: Liew Chee Hong, a mosaic layer convicted of trafficking in 1,989gm of cannabis, escaped the hangman's noose after the Court of Appeal in Bernama, Malaysia, allowed his appeal and reduced his charge imposed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court for trafficking to one of possession. The three-member panel headed by Justice Datuk Mokhtar Sidin replaced the death sentence on Liew, 27, with 20 years jail and 10 strokes of the cane. Liew wass to start his jail term from the day he was arrested on February 12, 2002. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 24/01/2005)

Other NEWS

MALAYSIA. COURT AFFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING BANGLADESHI

March, 21 2005: the Federal Court of Malaysia in Bernama upheld the conviction and death sentence imposed on Francis Antonysamy for murdering a Bangladeshi man in oil palm estate in Temerloh. Francis, 33, had been sentenced to death by the Temerloh High Court for murdering Ali Ahmmed Mohammed Ullah at the Kim Swee Leong oil palm plantation near Kuala Lumpur on August 19, 1994.
Appeal judge Datuk S. Augustine Paul, in reading out the judgment, said the investigation commenced with the discovery of Ali Ahmmed's headless body at the plantation on August 23, 1994. He said the principle witness for the prosecution, M. Meganathan, had told the court that about three to four weeks prior to the incident Francis had told him that to win in the lottery the head of a person was necessary. (Sources: Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 21/03/2005)

MALAYSIA. HANGMEN IN LINE FOR A 75% PAY RISE

March, 24 2005: it was reported that Malaysia’s hangmen and floggers had won pay rises. For every hanging, executioners would be paid the equivalent of 100 EU (490 Malaysian Ringgits), up from 60 EU.
For every swing of the cane, prison officers flogging convicts would now get the equivalent of 2 Euros, up from 60 cents.
The pay increase for about 50 floggers and executioners, who perform "challenging tasks", was long overdue, said Internal Security Ministry Secretary-General Abdul Aziz Mohamad Yusof.
Illegal migrants would be flogged "gently", said the government. Caning is also imposed for crimes including under-age sex. (Sources: AFP, 24/03/2005)

MALAYSIA. NIGERIAN WOMAN LOSES DRUG APPEAL, TO FACE DEATH

August, 2 2005: Malaysia’s highest court has sentenced a Nigerian mother of five to death after refusing to overturn her drug trafficking conviction, a newspaper reported.
A three-man panel of judges from the Federal Court maintained an earlier conviction in March 1999 ruling that Msimanga Lesaly, 40, was guilty of trafficking in 686 grammes of heroin in northern Kedah state in 1997.
Lesaly was caught with the drugs in a bag, after police stopped her and searched her belongings.
Lesaly, who had filed and lost an appeal in September 2004, had made a last-ditch legal attempt to escape the gallows in filing her final appeal in the Federal Court, the Malay-language Berita Harian daily reported. Now, only a royal pardon can commute her sentence.
Leasly’s lawyer has argued that the conviction was flawed as Lesaly was initially detained with another suspect, who was later released.
He claimed that Lesaly did not know the contents of the bag, which she was allegedly carrying for somebody else. (Sources: Dpa, 02/08/2005)

August 3, 2005

Nigerian woman sentenced to death in Malaysia
-DPA

"Malaysia’s tough drug laws prescribe the mandatory death sentence by hanging for anyone caught smuggling in most types of drugs."

Malaysia’s highest court has sentenced a Nigerian mother of five to death after refusing to overturn her drug trafficking conviction, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

A three-man panel of judges from the Federal Court maintained an earlier conviction in March 1999 ruling that Msimanga Lesaly, 40, was guilty of trafficking in 686 grammes of heroin in northern Kedah state in 1997. Lesaly was caught with the drugs in a bag, after police stopped her and searched her belongings.

Lesaly, who had filed and lost an appeal in September 2004, had made a last-ditch legal attempt to escape the gallows in filing her final appeal in the Federal Court, the Malay-language Berita Harian daily reported. Now, only a royal pardon can commute her sentence.

Leasly’s lawyer has argued that the conviction was flawed as Lesaly was initially detained with another suspect, who was later released. He claimed that Lesaly did not know the contents of the bag, which she was allegedly carrying for somebody else.

Malaysia’s tough drug laws prescribe the mandatory death sentence by hanging for anyone caught smuggling in most types of drugs.