Kota Kinabalu: A 52-year-old retired army corporal walked out as a free man on Thursday after the High Court here released him from a charge of trafficking 1,866gm of cannabis.
Raja Mohd Nor Hasran Raja Mohd Nor (pic, middle) was discharged and acquitted by Judge Leonard David without his defence being called.
Raja Mohd Nor was accused of committing the offence at 11am on April 21, 2017 at a car park area opposite an office at the Lok Kawi camp near here.
The charge, under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, carries a punishment of either the death penalty or life in prison and whipping with a minimum of 15 strokes on conviction.
“From the totality of the evidence adduced at the end of the prosecution case, it is evident that there are material discrepancies in the break in the chain of prosecution’s evidence,” Leonard said in his ruling earlier.
He held that the court found that a prima facie case has not been made out against Raja Mohd Nor.
“In the premises, the accused is discharged and acquitted without calling for his defence.”
The prosecution had called nine witnesses to testify at the prosecution’s stage.
Raja Mohd Nor was represented by counsels PJ Perira and Ariel Dasan.
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