PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today commuted the death sentence of a former odd-job worker to a 30-year jail term on two counts of trafficking 345kg of cannabis eight years ago.
A three-member bench chaired by Justice Che Ruzima Ghazali also ordered Faizal Zainal Abidin, 46, to be given 24 strokes of the rotan, the maximum allowed under the law.
Che Ruzima, who sat with Justices Azmi Ariffin and Azhahari Kamal Ramli, said the jail term was to begin from March 13, 2016.
He said the bench was aware of the excess weight of the drugs involved, but also considered the mitigating factor in substituting the death penalty with a jail sentence.
Faizal was sentenced to 30 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the rotan on each of the charges.
