Two Nigerian college students were yesterday handed the death sentence by a Malaysian High Court for trafficking 3.5 kilogrammes of methamphetamine three years ago, according to the New Straits Times Press.
Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Abdul Halim Aman made the ruling after finding that the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against the accused, Mustafa Azmir, 28, and Jude Nnamdi Achonye, 30.
According to the criminal charge brought against them, Mustafa and Jude were accused of trafficking the drugs at an apartment in Petaling Jaya at 3.30pm on Sept 2, 2014 which is an offense under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The facts of the case stated that the accused, who studied at a private college in Kuala Lumpur, were arrested by police when they accepted several boxes containing the drug which was delivered by a courier company at the apartment.
Abdul Halim, in his ruling, said the court had studied testimonies from 13 prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses, alongside 73 exhibits tendered during the trial.
"The defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of this case and presented no testimony that thoroughly refutes the prosecution.
"Besides that, there were also discrepancies in testimonies of the accused and their defence only amounted to denial without concrete evidence," he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Rehan Mohd Aris appeared for the prosecution, while the accused were represented by lawyer Leonard Anselm Gomes.
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