Kuala lumpur: Three men were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today on a charge of trafficking more than 73 kilogrammes of drugs into the country. Judge Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee made the ruling after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against Muhammad Amiruddin Abd Hadi, 30, V. Vijandran Nair, 35, and Muhammad Faiz Ahmad, 36, at the end of the prosecution's case.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Judge Wendy Ooi highlighted serious weaknesses in the prosecution's case against the three accused. In her judgment, she pointed out contradictions in the testimony of prosecution witnesses, especially concerning the identification of the case items and the number of boxes of drugs seized. The court also noted the absence of crucial evidence, such as photographs during the seizure and the original closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, which further weakened the prosecution's case.

Additionally, the investigating officer's failure to examine the evidence presented by the accused undermined the credibility of the prosecution's case and prejudiced the defence. Consequently, the three accused were acquitted and discharged without being required to enter a defence.

The three men were jointly charged with trafficking methamphetamine near a house in Taman Batu Caves, Gombak, at about 3 pm on August 6, 2021. The charge was framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same law, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for a death sentence or life imprisonment if convicted.

The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ainul Mardiyah Mohd Ali. The legal defense team comprised lawyers Nik Saiful Adli Burhan, Muhamad Asri Abdul Hamid, and Md Yusuf Md Idris for Muhammad Amiruddin; Zulkifli Awang and Mohd Ruzaini Zulkifli for Vijandran Nair; and Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent for Muhammad Faiz.