The Shah Alam High Court sentenced Muhammad Lukman, 29, to death by hanging on 30 August 2018 after convicting him of possessing, processing and distributing cannabis oil.[1][2] Officers had found three litres of cannabis oil and 279 grams of compressed cannabis in his home; he had been arrested there in December 2015 alongside his wife, who was then six months pregnant.[1][2] His offences fell under section 39B of Malaysia’s Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which makes trafficking punishable by death.[1][2]
Oil for patients
Lukman, a father of one, gave cannabis oil to patients suffering ailments that were hard to treat with legal medicines, free of charge for those who could not pay.[1][2] He worked with the Malaysia Ganja Education Movement, and several of his hundreds of patients, including his mother, testified for him at trial.[2] A University Putra Malaysia neuroscientist presented research on cannabis and brain function in his defence.[2] The prosecution argued that intent and revenue were irrelevant because the Health Ministry recognises no medical use for the drug, and the judge rejected his plea for a reduced sentence.[1]
An appeal and a national debate
Lukman said he would appeal to the Court of Appeal, calling the verdict cruel but blaming the written law rather than the judge.[1] Supporters started a petition for his release that gathered nearly 70,000 signatures.[2] On 10 October the government announced it would move to abolish the death penalty, a decision taken in direct response to the outcry over his case.[2]
The appeal: death upheld, one charge reduced
In May 2020 a three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Putrajaya upheld the death sentence, ruling there was no evidence from the authorities that marijuana has medicinal properties and that manufacturing it falls under the Dangerous Drugs Act.[3][4] The panel, led by judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof, had heard the appeal on 27 November 2019; it dismissed one of the three trafficking charges.[4] Lukman stayed under sentence of death for trafficking and received seven years’ jail from the day of his arrest plus ten strokes of the rotan for possessing cannabis.[4] His lawyers filed a further appeal to the Federal Court, with no hearing date fixed.[4]
Federal Court: gallows escaped
On 17 February 2021 a three-member Federal Court bench in Putrajaya allowed Lukman’s appeal against the two remaining trafficking convictions and set the death sentence aside.[5][6] Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the prosecution had failed to prove the weight of the drugs, so the trafficking convictions could not stand; judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal sat with her.[5][6]
The court upheld his guilt for possession under section 9 of the Dangerous Drugs Act instead, sentencing him to five years’ jail on each of two counts, to run concurrently.[5][6] The 2021 coverage dates the offences to a house in Bandar Mahkota, Banting, on 7 December 2015.[5][6] His case had drawn support from senior political figures, with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad calling for the charges to be reviewed.[6]