In 2018, a Malaysian court acquitted a Nigerian man convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death.
The Federal Court reversed the conviction and death sentence of a Nigerian national for drug trafficking, which had been upheld by Kuching, Malaysia’s High Court and Court of Appeal.
On June 7, 2016, Jonas Chihurumanya, a Nigerian, was arrested in a Jalan Canna parking lot for allegedly trafficking 158.3 grammes of methamphetamine.
On conviction, he was prosecuted under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Dr*gs Act (DDA) of 1952 and punished under Section 39B (2) of the same Act, which imposes the death penalty or life imprisonment with whipping. On January 30, 2018, the Kuching High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
The High Court’s ruling was appealed to the Court of Appeal, but the appeal was denied on October 23, 2019. Then, he appealed to the Federal Court of Appeals. On November 11, 2021, Jonas Chihurumnanya was released and found not guilty after a three-person panel heard his appeal in Zoom proceedings.
The Federal Court determined that circumstantial evidence did not establish that Chihurumnanya was aware of the alleged drugs in the trunk of the car he was driving. In the absence of knowledge, the panel determined that the prosecution failed to prove the element of possession as required by law.
