ELECTRICIAN'S DEATH SENTENCE

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court dismissed an electrician's appeal
against his death sentence for trafficking in almost 1kg of cannabis
13 years ago.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum and Federal
Court Justices Arifin Zakaria and Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman rejected
Mohd Azhar Saad's counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran's contention that the
Court of Appeal had erred in law when it accepted his client's
statement made to a lance corporal at the time of his arrest.

In November 1994, the High Court found Mohd Azhar, 38, guilty of
trafficking in the drug at the Bukit Kayu Hitam immigration complex in
Kedah on July 6, 1993.

His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed in August
2001.

Yesterday, Kumaraendran told the Federal Court that for a statement to
be admissible as evidence, it must be made to a police inspector or an
officer of higher rank.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup countered that the evidence of
trafficking was overwhelming as Mohd Azhar had been caught in
possession of the drug.