Businessman's death sentence commuted to 30 years in prison and caning for cannabis trafficking

PUTRAJAYA: A businessman escaped the gallows after the Federal Court commuted his death sentence to 30 years in prison for trafficking 9.528 kg of cannabis.

The three-judge bench, headed by Justice Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, upheld Mohammad Firdaus Mohsin's drug trafficking conviction and dismissed his appeal.

In delivering the court's ruling, Justice Zabariah, however, quashed the death sentence handed down to Mohammad Firdaus and commuted it to 30 years in prison.

Mohammad Firdaus, 40, was also ordered to receive 12 rotan strokes.

The other two presiding judges were Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.

On December 3, 2021, the Shah Alam High Court convicted Mohammad Firdaus for drug trafficking on March 28, 2017 at 10 p.m., along Jalan Bukit, in front of Kajang KTMB Station in Hulu Langat, Selangor.

On August 2 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and death sentence of Mohammad Firdaus.

According to the facts of the case, a police officer approached Mohammad Firdaus and asked him to open his bags, which led to the discovery of several pieces of compressed dried leaves in one of them, which were later confirmed by the Department of Chemistry to be cannabis.

In his defense, Mohammad Firdaus claimed that the bag did not belong to him but to an Uber driver. He said he took care of it while waiting for the Uber driver to park the car.

He claimed that he had traveled from Penang to Kuala Lumpur to attend an event and was waiting for his uncle to pick him up and take him to his home in Sungai Ramal, Kajang.

During the trial, Uber driver Mohd Sabri Salleh testified that he received a booking from Mohammad Firdaus through the Uber app to send him from KL Sentral to Kajang KTM station.

He said he saw Mohammad Firdaus carrying the bags and placing them next to him in the back seat of the car.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zulkpli Abdullah appeared for the prosecution, while Mohammad Firdaus was represented by lawyers Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali and Nur Mustahir Md Nor. – Bernama