PUTRAJAYA, Aug 2 — The Court of Appeal here today upheld the death sentence imposed on a businessman for trafficking in 9.528kg of cannabis.

This followed a decision by a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk See Mee Chun and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, in dismissing the appeal by Mohammad Firdaus Mohsin, 38, to set aside his conviction and death sentence.

Justice Hadhariah, in delivering the court’s decision, said there were no merits in the appeal by Mohammad Firdaus.

She said Mohammad Firdaus’s conviction was safe to be upheld.

On December 3, 2021, the High Court in Shah Alam found Mohammad Firdaus guilty of trafficking in the drug by the roadside of Jalan Bukit in front of the Kajang KTMB train station in the Hulu Langat district, Selangor at 10pm on March 28, 2017.

Mohammad Firdaus has one more avenue of appeal, which is to the Federal Court.

According to the facts of the case, a police team, acting on information, went to the area and saw Muhammad Firdaus, who was behaving suspiciously, carrying two bags.

A police officer approached him and asked him to open the bags. They found several slabs of compressed dried leaves in one of the bags which was later confirmed by the Chemistry Department to be cannabis.

In his defence, Mohammad Firdaus claimed that the bag was not his, but belonged to a Uber driver and was taking care of the bag while waiting for the Uber driver to park the car.

He claimed that he came to Kuala Lumpur from Penang to attend an event and was waiting for his uncle to fetch him to his (uncle’s) house in Sungai Ramal, Kajang.

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

He said he saw Mohammad Firdaus carrying the bags and he (Mohammad Firdaus) had put the bags next to him (Mohammad Firdaus) in the back seat of the car.

Lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi represented Mohammad Firdaus while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution. — Bernama