PUTRAJAYA: A 29-year-old jobless man today escaped the gallows for trafficking in almost 2kg of cocaine at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) arrival hall five years ago.
The Court of Appeal instead sentenced Makkhen Singh to 16 years’ jail and ordered him to be whipped 10 times for possessing 1.96kg of the drugs sourced from Brazil.
At the start of today’s appeal hearing before a three-member bench chaired by Hanipah Farikullah, lawyer Naran Singh said the prosecution had allowed a representation made last month based on “a number of legal issues”.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari confirmed the matter and presented an amended charge of possession.
Makkhen pleaded guilty to the charge.
The High Court had in 2019 sentenced him to death for trafficking in the cocaine at KLIA at about 9pm on May 31, 2017.
Today, Fairuz urged the bench to impose a jail term of 20 years or more to serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.
“Cocaine is a rare drug that is brought into this country and public interest is best served by imposing a heavy sentence,” he said.
Those convicted for possession under Section 39A(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act may be sentenced to a minimum five-year or maximum 30-year jail term plus a minimum of 10 strokes of the rotan.
In mitigation, Naran submitted that his client was 24 at the time of committing the offence and it would serve little purpose should a lengthy jail term be imposed.
“Sentencing should be based on rehabilitation and not to serve as a deterrence. My client has expressed regret over his action and promised to turn over a new leaf,” he said.
He said Makkhen should be out of jail as soon as possible as part of the rehabilitation process.
Hanipah, who sat with Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Lee Heng Cheong, pronounced a 16-year jail term from the date of arrest and 10 strokes of the rotan.
Naran later told reporters Makkhen should be freed from jail in five years after the one-third remission given to inmates for good behaviour.-FMT