The High Court sentenced Indonesian national Hasbala Mohd Sarong, 22, to death for trafficking in cannabis six years earlier.[1] Judicial Commissioner Datuk Asmabi Mohamad found him guilty of the offence committed in front of the Proton factory at about 10 pm on 27 February 2004, after ruling he had failed to cast a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.[1] The offence under section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 carries the mandatory death sentence on conviction.[1]

The cannabis was found in a bag he was carrying when police arrested him at a bus station, and the chemist’s analysis put it at 4,607 g.[2] Both the prosecution and the defence called seven witnesses each.[1] The police weighing had recorded 4,860 g gross while the chemist found 4,688.55 g gross, a difference of 171.45 g, and the wrapping description was corrected from aluminium foil to transparent plastic at trial.[2] The Federal Court dismissed his appeal on 26 June 2013, holding the weight difference did not create a reasonable doubt and affirming the conviction and sentence.[2]