Thai woman gets death sentence for drug trafficking
KUCHING: A female Thai national broke down in tears after she was sentenced to death in the High Court here yesterday for drug trafficking.
The 5 8 - year- old accused Napaphorn Tanjit was found gui lty of traf f icking 3.6kg of methamphetamine, and convicted under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1952 that provides for a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
She committed the offence when detained at the Customs checkpoint in Kuching International Airport around 9pm on Nov 1, 2015. Justice Dato Rhodzariah Bujang ruled that her defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt on the prosecution case.
On Dec 29 last year, the High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against her and acquitted her of the charge without entering her defence.
The prosecution then appealed against the decision and on April 17 this year, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ruled that there was a prima facie case. Napaphorn was ordered to enter her defence before the High Court judge.
I n passi ng t he sentence yesterday, the judge said that her defence of being an innocent carrier fai led on account of wilful blindness on her part.
Outside the court, Napaphorn, a HIV carrier, was crying when talking over the phone. She was wearing a face mask and wore gloves whenever she was brought to court.