Malaysian court sentences Nigerian to death over marijuana

Prince Bartholomew Obitube, a Nigerian studying in a private college, has been sentenced to death by a High Court in Malaysia for trafficking 9,189 gramme  of cannabis, also know as marijuana.

Obitube (28) reportedly committed the offence in August 2011 at  an apartment in Gombak .High Court judge Justice Abd Halim Aman handed down the sentence after considering testimonies given by three prosecution witnesses and the accused and submissions given by both parties.He noted that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt  against Prince Bartholomew Obitube.

“Up till end of the defence case, it is clearly that the prosecution has succeeded in establishing a case beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, the accused is convicted to the charge,” he said in his judgement on Wednesday.

He said there was only one punishment under Section 39B (2) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 which was the death sentence.

Obitube was accused of trafficking the drug at Level 5, Desa Satu Apartment, Desa Aman Puri in Gombak at about 6.05am on August 20, 2011.

He was charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same act which provides a mandatory death sentence on conviction.

Fazillah Begum Abdul Ghani was the deputy public prosecutor while counsel Gurmit Singh Hullon acted for Obitube.

Source

Telegraph