PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today upheld the 30-year jail term and 12 strokes of the rotan imposed on a former lorry driver for trafficking 1.4645 kilogrammes (kg) of methamphetamine.
A three-judge panel led by Court of Appeal President Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Jais, together with Federal Court judges Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Azimah Omar, dismissed Ahmad Fahmi Mohd Hasnu's appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Delivering the court's unanimous decision, Che Mohd Ruzima said the High Court judge had correctly applied the presumption of knowledge under Section 37(d) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and that the appellant (Fahmi) had failed to rebut the presumption.
"We find that the drugs were inside a bag, and the bag was in the possession and control of the appellant," he said, adding that the court rejected the defence's argument that the drugs had been found inside the car.
Che Mohd Ruzima said the court found that the drugs had not been discovered concealed in any part of the car driven by the appellant, but were found inside a bag on the right rear seat of the vehicle.
He said the court also gave weight to several key facts - the appellant was driving the car alone at the time of the incident, the bag was in a clearly visible location, and he was seen moving towards and reaching for the bag when the raid was conducted.
"Therefore, there is no reason for us to amend the conviction from trafficking to possession, as proposed by the appellant.
The appeal is dismissed, and the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal are maintained," he said.
The defence had argued that the High Court judge erred in invoking the presumption of knowledge under Section 37(d), contending that the presumption could not be applied to drugs found inside a vehicle because a vehicle did not fall within the definition of "anything whatsoever containing".
On May 13, 2024, the High Court found Fahmi, 39, guilty of trafficking 1.4645 kg of methamphetamine at the Rusella apartment complex in Taman Pinggiran Putra, Seri Kembangan, Selangor, at 6.45 pm on Oct 8, 2020.
On March 24 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Ahmad Fahmi's appeal and upheld the High Court's decision.
At today's proceedings, Ahmad Fahmi was represented by lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim appeared for the prosecution.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd