JOHOR BAHRU, March 6 (Bernama) -- Three men were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today of charges related to the possession and trafficking of methamphetamine six years ago.
Judge Datuk Abu Katar ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against former livestock farm workers S Purusothaman, 42, K Puvanisveran, 58, and R Viknesh, 39.
Abu Katar said the discovery of the drugs at the cattle farm was inadequate to link the accused to their control and custody of the substance, which is central to the charges.
He noted that both locations were accessible to other individuals, as confirmed by prosecution witnesses and there was no evidence to indicate who placed the drugs or when it was placed before the raid.
The judge also ruled that the discovery of a key was inadequate to connect K Puvanisveran to the drugs found at the premises, nor was it enough to implicate the second accused.
The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused had control or possession of the dangerous drugs, which was central to both charges.
As a result, the three men, who are friends, were discharged and acquitted of the charges without being required to enter their defence.
The men were jointly accused of distributing 6.2 kg of methamphetamine and possessing 58.68 litres of liquid methamphetamine at an unnumbered premises near Kampung Pengkalan Batu, Mersing, on Aug 28, 2019.
They were charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment and not less than twelve strokes of the cane upon conviction.
They also faced charges under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which is punishable by imprisonment of between three and five years upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Juanita Mohd Said led the prosecution, which called seven witnesses to testify.
Lawyers Sangeet Kaur Deo, Harshaan Zamani and K Ganeraja represented K Puvanisveran and R Viknesh, while S Purusothaman was represented by lawyers G Subramaniam Nair and VS Selvanteran.
-- BERNAMA
