00:00The Federal Court today ruled that trial judges in drug trafficking cases do not have to specify at the close
00:07of the prosecution's case whether the charge against them is based on direct evidence or a statutory presumption.
00:15In a split ruling, Justices Azmi Arifin and Nordin Hassan formed the majority while Bench Chair Justice Rodzaria Bujang dissented.
00:24Azmi said Section 180 of the Criminal Procedure Code only requires judges to determine if the prosecution has established a
00:33prima facie case before calling for the defense.
00:36He said the provision does not require the trial judge to also identify the premise of the prosecution's case.
00:44In coming to its decision, the Apex Court overruled the case of Bong Sing Seng in which the Court of
00:50Appeal treated the trial judge's omission as fatal.
00:53Today, the majority judges said prosecutors had proven that the accused, Julasiri Akil Marah, was in possession of 137.03
01:04grams of methamphetamine, well above the 50 grams threshold that triggers the presumption of trafficking.
01:11Julasiri and Aspal Hussam were convicted of trafficking by the Tawau High Court in 2022.
01:17They were sentenced to 30 years in prison and 15 strokes each of the rotan.
01:23Only Julasiri appealed.
01:24In 2025, the Court of Appeal reduced Julasiri's charge to possession and sentenced him to 12 years in jail but
01:33spared him a whipping due to his age.
01:36Under prosecution's appeal, the Federal Court restored Julasiri's trafficking conviction and his original sentence.
01:43Roman Dawi Gapari, FMT
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