CANNABIS: MAN ESCAPES GALLOWS

KOTA KINABALU: A 26-year-old man from Kudat escaped the gallows when the
charge against him for possession of 228g of cannabis was amended by the
prosecution in the Sessions Court Friday.

Judge Abdul Rahman Sebli sentenced Rasdin Daluman to 12 years' jail and 12
strokes of the rotan.

Rasdin, who was first charged in the High Court here in April under Section
39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death
sentence, pleaded guilty to the amended charge framed under Section 39A of
the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 which provides for life imprisonment and whipping.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Duncan Sikodol told the court, Rasdin was arrested
on June 1 last year at about 12.10am in a garden in front of the Restoran
Sungei Wang, Kudat town.

Duncan said a police party led by Insp V Segaran had been tailing Rasdin
who was holding a black plastic bag containing the drug from the Dynasty
Karaoke to the restoran.

Upon reaching the garden, Rasdin sat on a masonry wall in the garden.The
police party who had been observing then stopped him and a search later
revealed that the bag he was carrying earlier was hidden among some flowers
in the garden.

Duncan said Rasdin admitted the bag containing the drug belonged to him.

Duncan also tendered a report from the Chemistry Department confirming the
contents of the bag were cannabis.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski