The Federal Court in Putrajaya today acquitted and discharged a 55-year-old Australian grandmother who was initially sentenced to death for drug-trafficking.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, ruled that Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto (above) had no knowledge of the drugs hidden in the bag.
In a unanimous decision, Tengku Maimun together with Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed, and Federal Court judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Idrus Harun, and P Nallini, reversed the conviction by the Court of Appeal.
Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented Exposto.
The mother-of-four appeared calm and smiled when the judge announced the ruling.
It would be the best birthday gift for Exposto whose birthday is on Dec 20.
Her son, Hugo Exposto, was also present with several officers from the Australian High Commission. They addressed the media after the hearing (below).
Exposto was charged for trafficking 1.1kg of crystal methamphetamine, also known as "ice", through the KL International Airport in 2014.
Authorities inspected her at the airport when she was on transit from Shanghai to Melbourne. It was believed that she mistakenly went through immigration as she was unfamiliar with the airport. She voluntarily offered her bags for inspection and the drugs were discovered. They found the drugs stashed in a hidden compartment in the bag.
Exposto was said to have been duped into carrying the bag handed by a stranger who sought her help under the pretext of passing a Christmas gift to his relatives in Melbourne.
In December last year, the High Court cleared Exposto after the judge ruled that she was unaware of transporting drugs in her bag.
Subsequently, prosecutors challenged the decision and the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and found her guilty, which led her counsel to file for an appeal at the apex court.
'If it’s ice, it could have melted'
In his submission today, Shafee told the court that Exposto went to Shanghai to procure the documentation pertaining to the retirement of her boyfriend "Captain Daniel Smith", whom she met online.
Maria said: "I went to Shanghai and stayed in a hotel paid by my boyfriend Captain Daniel... my purpose there was to sign a retirement letter. On Dec 6 (2014), a man came to the hotel and gave me papers to sign on behalf of my boyfriend. When he sent me to the airport, he gave me a bag containing clothes for relatives in Melbourne. The man claimed that they were Christmas gifts."
Shafee submitted that the man told his client that someone at Melbourne airport will wait for her to pick up the bag.
Exposto, who was in transit at KLIA to return to Melbourne, mistakenly walked through the immigration counter where her bag was inspected.
One of the officers testified that she was a naive person, or described as lurus bendul in Malay.
“When the authorities mentioned (that they found) 'ice' (in the bag), Exposto said it could not be as if it’s ice, it could have melted. She thought the officers literally meant ice,” the counsel said.
After being arrested, Exposto still believed that "Captain Daniel Smith" exists.
“It took us two months to convince her that the guy does not exist,” Shafee said, adding that Exposto was the perfect textbook example of an online love scam.
Exposto was expected to return to Australia within 48 hours.
During the media conference, Hugo said: “All I want to do now is to take her home. She missed a lot of precious moments. She will catch up with what she has missed.”
Shafee said that Exposto found it hard to even speak when she found out that she would be free.
“She is so delighted she couldn’t even speak. She knew she would be acquitted. She kept on smiling as though it was a joke. That’s her that I know," the lawyer added. - Mkini
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