Man Accquitted of Trafficking 552g of Methamphetamine

KUALA LUMPUR:
YA Dato’ Azhar Bin Abdul Hamid here today acquitted and discharged Karunagaran A/L Asaithamby, 35, on a charge of drug trafficking.
Karunagaran was charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same Act, with either the death penalty or life imprisonment, and up to 15 strokes of the rotan, upon conviction.
He was accused of trafficking Methamphetamine weighing about 552 grams on 13 December 2018 around 9:40pm in Brickfields.
In total, 7 witnesses were called. These included the initial Investigating Officer Inspector Azhanizam Bin Ahmad and the subsequent Investigating Officer Inspector Khairul IzwanBin Zainal Abidin.
Karunagaran was represented by Dato’ Geethan Ram Vincent and MsLavanyia Raja. The defenceteam argued that the Prosecution had failed to produce material witnesses and that there were issues with the chain of custody of the drugs. They also highlighted the contradictions between the evidences presented in court and that possession was not proven.

The atmosphere in High Court 7 was calm as the Honoured Judge announced his findings that the Prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case and proceeded to acquit the Accused without calling for a defence to be entered.