GEORGE TOWN: A former factory worker managed a broad grin after he was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here on a charge of drug trafficking.
Mohammad Bakri Mazlan, 25, shook the hands of his lawyer and family members as soon as Judicial Commissioner Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed read out his decision.
The judge said the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused, and that the latter did not know the packages he was carrying contained drugs.
He said, based on the testimony of the eighth prosecution witness, the accused had no knowledge of the drugs and was not the owner.
“According to the witness, the accused only received orders from an individual to carry the 12 packages, which the latter claimed were smuggled items and not drugs, from the sea to the lorry.
“The witness also claimed that they were engaged by the man to carry the packages and did not know their contents,” he added.
“As such, the court finds that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused, and acquit and discharge him.”
Bakri was charged with two others still at large with trafficking 447,032.50g of canabis at the Angsana Senja Aman construction site in Teluk Bahang about 6am on May 23, 2015.
He was charged under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same act, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
The offence carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction or life imprisonment and maximum 15 strokes of the rotan.
A total of eight witnesses were called to testify in the course of the trial.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emma Syafawati Abdul Wahab prosecuted while Bakri was represented by Hussaini Abdul Rashid.
