By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, April 22: The Court of Appeal in Kuching today reduced the death sentence of a man to 30 years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane following the defence counsel’s assertion that it was a “he said, she said” case where police officer’s statement is not collaborated.
Jason Hew Kiong Chew was charged with drug trafficking under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 Section 39(1)(a) and punishable under Subsection 39B(2) of the same Act.
He was found guilty on Aug 21, 2020, by the High Court for trafficking 211.95 grams of methamphetamine and was sentenced to death by hanging.
However, he managed to escape the gallows following the defence counsel’s argument that serious doubt arose in the prosecution as it was a “he said, she said” situation with the police’s accusation not substantiated by another testimony.
The defence counsel further raised queries over the reasons why the accused’s sister, Jasmine Hiew, who was present during the police raid, was not called as a witness to collaborate with either the statement of the accused’s or that of the head of the raid of the police department.
The lack of fingerprints on the evidence also contributed as a factor leading to the decision of a lighter sentence for the accused by the three-member bench consisting of Judges Dato Sri Mariana Yahya, Dato Hashim Hamzah, and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Amril prosecuted while the accused was defended by Roger Chin and Mohd Ossman Ibrahim. — DayakDaily
