Published: Thursday September 12, 2013 MYT 4:34:00 PM
Updated: Thursday September 12, 2013 MYT 4:36:32 PM
Pakistani trader collapses after being sentenced to death for drug trafficking
BY NURBAITI HAMDAN
SHAH ALAM: A Pakistani trader collapsed after he was sentenced to the gallows by the High Court here for trafficking 80.7kg of assorted drugs.
Muhammad Shahbaz, 33, fell to the ground outside of the accused dock after the death sentence was passed.
Two policemen came to his aid and laid him on a bench, but he quickly rose to his feet and was handcuffed before being lead out of the courtroom.
Muhammad and his friend Imran Khan Jan Gul Shah, 30, were found guilty of trafficking 71.9kg of heroin and 8.8kg of monoacetylmorphine at a shoplot at No 16-1, Jalan PUJ 3/11, Taman Puncak Jalil in Bandar Putra Permai at 4.30pm on April 6, 2011.
During a raid at the shoplot, police found 255 boxes containing comforters, towels, clothes and blankets.
Further checks revealed 14 out of the 255 boxes contained 155 packets containing drugs.
Earlier, Justice Ahmadi Asnawi ruled that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt on the issue of trafficking.
"Don't be disheartened, you still have a chance to appeal at the Court of Appeal, and if the Court of Appeal agrees with my decision, you can bring your case at the Federal Court. If you fail at the Federal Court, you can go to the Pardons Board (Lembaga Pengampunan) chaired by the Sultan of Selangor," he said.
During the trial, the court had heard that the two men were asked by a friend from Pakistan to collect the boxes at Port Klang and to bring them to the shoplot.
They claimed the friend sent an SMS asking them to separate 14 sealed boxes aside.
DPP Fazillah Begum Abdul Ghani prosecuted while the men were represented by lawyers Karpal Singh and Zaleha Al-Hayat.
