In a rare court judgement, a Nigerian man, Jonas Chimhurumnaya who was sentenced to death in 2018 for Drug trafficking has been acquitted.
His conviction and death sentence was set aside by the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Kuching, Malaysia. Chimhurumnaya was arrested for allegedly trafficking 158.3g of methamphetamine in a car park at Jalan Canna at about 12.05am on June 7, 2016.
He was charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 and punishable under Section 39B(2) of same Act, which carries a death sentence or imprisonment for life and with whipping, upon conviction.
On January 30, 2018 he was found guilty and sentenced to death on by the Kuching High Court. His counsel appealed the High Court’s decision to the Court of Appeal but was dismissed on Oct 23, 2019. He subsequently appealed to the Federal Court.
‘The Star’ reports that a three-member panel led by Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh together with Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan and Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli unanimously discharged and acquitted Jonas Chimhurumnaya after allowing his appeal in Zoom proceedings on Thursday, November 11,2021.
