Thai woman’s appeal on drug charge shot down
KUCHING: The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed the appeal of a Thai woman who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the High Court.
A panel of judges comprising Idrus Harun, Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Yeoh Wee Siam, unanimously ruled out the appeal made by Naphaporn Tangjit, 59, as there were no merits on her appeal, and the death sentence passed by the High Court earlier is to stay.
The counsel for the appellant and the prosecutor also handed their submission on the case for the Court of Appeal to make its ruling.
The appellant was detained at the Customs checkpoint in Kuching International Airport at 9pm on Nov 1, 2016.
She was charged with trafficking 3.6kg of methamphetamine, punishable by mandatory death under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1952.
The High Court ruled on Dec 29, 2016 that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against her, and she was acquitted of the charge without entering her defence.
The prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeal for the case to be heard again at the High Court for trial where Naphaporn failed in her defence, and was found guilty.
She is now being remanded further in prison after her appeal was dismissed.
Shankar Ram and Daniel Ling are her counsels.