SHAH ALAM:
Son KokKeong had a smile on his face as he walked out of courtroom today, having been acquitted and discharged by the High Court at the end of Prosecution’s case.
YA Dato’ Indera Haji Ab. Karim bin Haji Ab. Rahman cited doubt in the identity of the drugs as the reason he could not find that the Prosecution had proved a prima facie case against the Accused.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tengku Intan Suraya prosecuted.
On February 1, 2019, Investigating Officer Inspector Muhamad Amirullah bin Othma acted on an anonymous tip regarding a possible drug trafficking involving a Chinese man in a dark blue Nissan Almera.
Son was arrested in Subang Parade. Police found a sling bag underneath the hand brake of his car which contained his IC, some keys, mobile phones and access cards.
In the back of the car, police found five white gunnies containing 71,286.5g of ketamine in total.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same act, which carries the death sentence or life imprisonment and whipping not less than 15 strokes, upon conviction.
Son has been in detention since he was arrested on February 1, 2019.
12 prosecution witnesses took the stand.
Son was represented by Dato’ Geethan Ram Vincent.
Defence counsel argued that there was a doubt in relation to the identity of the drugs exhibits due to a break in the chain of the exhibits. He pointed out that there were material and glaring inconsistencies in the documents presented, the marking of exhibits and the testimonies of the officers involved, with the number of packets involved varying from 80 to 90, and so forth.