JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 26 — Two friends were relieved to have escaped the noose today after the High Court acquitted and discharged them for drug trafficking.
Judicial Commissioner Noor Hayati Mat freed Effy Sharaffi Muszali, 28, and Indra Ironi Nasrun, 27, of the charge after finding the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.
In the judgment, she said, among other things, the chain of evidence against the exhibit in the case was broken when the prosecution could not explain the matter.
The prosecution also failed to prove the two knew of the exhibit found under a car’s steering wheel.
Effy Sharaffi, a mechanic, and Indra Ironi, a hospital porter in Singapore, were jointly charged with trafficking 455g of cannabis on the second floor of a car park at the Skudai Parade shopping centre at 6pm on July 16, 2020.
The charge was framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which provides the death sentence upon conviction.
However, Noor Hayati sentenced Effy Sharaffi to three years in prison for the second charge of possessing 10.14g of cannabis at 6.15pm on the same day and place.
The charge was framed under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides a prison sentence of not more than five years, a fine of not more than RM20,000, or both if convicted.
Effy Sharaffi had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was supposed to enter his defence today, but changed his plea to guilty today.
He was ordered to serve the prison sentence from July 16, 2020.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Nasrudin Mohamed prosecuted, while lawyer Nur Helmi A. Halim represented Effy Sharaffi.
Indra Ironi was represented by lawyers Mohd Tarmeze Mohd Taib and Mohammad Muzammil Mohammad Hairiri.
— Bernama
