Kota Kinabalu: A 37-year-old unemployed man claimed trial at the High Court, Friday, to two counts of trafficking 32.84kg of syabu.
Yap Kai, who was brought before Judge Leonard David Shim, pleaded not guilty to committing the offences on July 28, 2022, in house No.5, Lot 32, Lorong Manikar 2A, Taman Manikar, here.
On the first count, Yap allegedly trafficked 1,279.93gm of syabu between 12.12pm and 1pm while on the second count, he was accused of trafficking 31,562.3gm of syabu between 1pm and 2pm.
Each charge is framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a punishment of either the death penalty or life in prison and whipping with a minimum of 15 strokes.
The court set April 17 for case management and ordered Yap to be further remanded as the charges against him have no provision for bail.
Customs’ Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Akhilah Rosmi prosecuted while Yap was represented by counsel Kimberly Ye.
Meanwhile, a 46-year-old Filipina charged with trafficking illegal immigrants was granted bail by the High Court.
Judge Datuk Christopher Chin made the order in the case of Divina Gutierez Sanchez after going through the submissions filed by her counsel in the bail application and the prosecution as the respondent.
The court released Divina on a bail of RM20,000 with RM10,000 deposited in two sureties with conditions that she report to the Penampang Police Station on the first and 15 of every month and her passport be surrendered to the court and that she is to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
Divina was charged in the Sessions Court on Dec 30, 2022, with smuggling two Filipinas in Kota Belud at 7pm on Nov 18, 2022.
The charge under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrant (Atipsom) Act 2007 is punishable by a jail term of up to 15 years or a fine or both, upon conviction.
In delivering his decision, Chin held that Divina was charged under Section 26A of Atipsom and that the Act was amended to include Part III A which had included the Section 26A to 26K in the First Schedule of Sosma 2012 (Security Offences Special Measures Act 2012).
“So, bail cannot be granted save if one of the three exceptions is allowed under Section 13(2) of Sosma 2012 is met. The exceptions are below 18 years old or, a woman, or a sick or infirmed person.
“Section 26A Atipsom which is the section the applicant is charged under is encompassed in the First Schedule to Sosma, hence the grant of bail is governed by Section 13 of Sosma and not by Section 388(1) of the CPC.
“Put simply, and as I understand, an offence under Atipsom is a security offence for the purposes of Sosma and hence bail is governed under Section 13(2) of the Sosma and its exceptions. As the applicant is obviously a female, she falls under one of the exceptions, held Chin, among others, in allowing bail to Divina.
Divina was represented by counsel Datuk Seri Rakhbir Singh while Deputy Public Prosecutor Afiq Agoes for the prosecution.
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