JOHOR BARU, Oct 26 —Two friends heaved a sigh of relief for having escaped the noose today after the High Court here today acquitted and discharged them on a drug trafficking charge.

Judicial Commissioner Noor Hayati Mat freed Effy Sharaffi Muszali, 28, and Indra Ironi Nasrun, 27, of the charge after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against them.

In the judgment, Noor Hayati said, among other things, that the chain of evidence against the exhibit in the case was broken when the prosecution could not provide an explanation regarding the matter.

She said the prosecution also failed to prove that the two men had knowledge of the exhibit that was found under the steering wheel of a car.

Effy Sharaffi, a mechanic, and Indra Ironi, a hospital porter in Singapore, were jointly charged with trafficking 455 grammes of cannabis drug on the second floor of a car park of Skudai Parade shopping centre here 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 involving possession of 10.14 grammes of cannabis at 6.15 pm on the same day and at the same 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 or 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