Court of Appeal Replaces Death Sentence with 30-Year Jail Term for Rohingya Refugee in Drug Trafficking Case
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has substituted the death sentence imposed on a Rohingya refugee with 30 years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane after upholding his conviction on two drug trafficking charges arising from offences committed in 2019.
The unanimous decision was delivered by a three-member bench comprising Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid.
The appellate court sentenced Khafai Tullah Nabi Hussein to 30 years’ imprisonment on each of the two trafficking charges, ordering both prison terms to run concurrently.
The concurrent sentence will also run alongside an existing 10-year jail term imposed for a separate conviction involving possession of 37.20 grams of methamphetamine.
In addition, the court imposed 24 strokes of the cane for the two trafficking offences while maintaining the earlier sentence of 12 strokes for the drug possession charge.
However, the judges clarified that the total number of strokes to be carried out cannot exceed 24, in accordance with Section 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which limits the maximum number of caning strokes that may be imposed on an adult offender.
Reading the court’s judgment, Justice Azman dismissed Khafai Tullah’s appeal against his convictions for trafficking 808.6 grams of heroin and 354.8 grams of monoacetylmorphine.
The court found that the appellant’s defence claiming another individual known as “Mani” had access to the house where the drugs were discovered amounted to an afterthought that failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.
The judges held that the discovery of the drugs, the appellant’s attempt to flee from authorities and the fact that he was alone inside the premises established sufficient evidence that he had custody and control over the narcotics.
Khafai Tullah did not challenge his conviction or sentence relating to the third charge involving possession of methamphetamine.
In September 2024, the High Court convicted the 36-year-old UNHCR cardholder on three drug-related charges, imposing the mandatory death penalty for the two trafficking offences together with 10 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for the possession charge.
The offences were committed at a house in Kampung Baru Thye Eng, Bedong, Kuala Muda, Kedah, on February 14, 2019.
During the trial, Khafai Tullah claimed that a man identified only as Mani had handed him a packet which he believed contained monosodium glutamate seasoning powder.
At the appeal hearing, the appellant was represented by lawyer Mohammad Yunus Mohd @ Ahmad Ali, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli appeared for the prosecution.
