Oct 27 decision for bid by Mat Sabu’s son to quash drug conviction

Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu’s son will know on Oct 27 the outcome of his bid to quash his conviction and eight-month jail sentence over a drug abuse case.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed the date after hearing submissions by Ahmad Saiful Islam’s lawyer Nasar Khan and deputy public prosecutor Izalina Abdullah.

Nasar argued that the police took only one urine sample and that the process of taking the it was not in accordance with the rules.

“There were discrepancies between the testimonies of prosecution witnesses regarding the urine sample. Besides that, there were errors in the urine sample bottle exhibit and a defect in the control chain of the sample. The sample was also stored too long before being tested in the laboratory,” he said.

Meanwhile, Izalina said the procedure of taking the urine sample from Saiful was adequate and in accordance with the law.

“The issue of the urine sample having been tampered with was never raised by the defence to any prosecution witnesses and at no time did the appellant lodge a police report saying he was abused following the allegedly irregular urine sample collection process.

“Therefore, magistrate (Mohamad Aizat Abdul Rahim) was not wrong in sentencing the appellant and there is no factor for the High Court to change the magistrate’s findings. We request that the appellant’s appeal be rejected and the sentence upheld,” she said.

According to the charge, Saiful was accused of using THC-type drugs at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur at 2.05am on Jan 5, 2019.

On June 24 last year, Aizat sentenced him to eight months’ jail after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts over the prosecution’s case.

The court ordered Saiful to serve the jail sentence from June 24 last year and to undergo a two-year surveillance under the National Anti-Drug Agency after completing the jail sentence.

On July 2 last year, Saiful filed an appeal against the Magistrate Court’s decision on the sentencing.

The court allowed his application to stay the execution of the jail sentence pending his appeal at the High Court.