PETALING JAYA: Two High Court judges – in Kota Bharu and Penang – have ruled that accused persons charged with drug trafficking that carries the death penalty cannot be given bail.
Judicial commissioner Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas said in Kota Bharu there was a specific provision in the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) to deny applicants bail.
He said Section 41B of the DDA clearly stated that bail shall not be granted to an accused person charged with an offence punishable with death or with jail terms for more than five years.
“The provision of Section 41B prevails over the general provision in Section 388(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),” he said in dismissing bail applications by Mohd Asyraf Samil and Siti Fakhira Bahrudin.
Abazafree, in his judgment delivered last week, said his failure to hear the bail application also did not mean he had abrogated the judiciary’s authority under the doctrine of separation of powers.
Lawyer Nik Nasron Nazmi, who represented Asyraf and Fakhira, submitted that the court could rely on Section 388 of the CPC.
The couple made the applications as they have been in remand for almost a year and because of the “current situation”, it would take some time for their case to be concluded.
Deputy public prosecutor Norazlinawati Mohd Arshad said the general provision in the CPC was inapplicable and Section 41B was a mandatory provision to deny bail for the alleged offence.
She said the court had no discretion to hear the application as the offence of trafficking was an unbailable offence.
Abazafree said the court was well aware of the predicament of both applicants and would do its best to expedite the trial.
At the Penang High Court, judicial commissioner Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid also dismissed bail applications by A Balachandran and B Santi Devi on similar grounds last week.
The couple, who were charged with drug trafficking in 2018, are being held at the Penang and Pokok Sena (Kedah) prisons. - FMT
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