PUTRAJAYA: A former salon worker escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal commuted his sentence to nine years in prison and 10 strokes of the rotan.
Chong Kah Chun's sentence was commuted after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of drug possession.
He had initially stood trial under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act for trafficking 762.1g of methamphetamine at around 12.30am at the customs scanner in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 (KLIA2) departure hall on Nov 18, 2018.
On June 30, 2022, Chong was sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court after he was found guilty under Section 39B(2) of the same Act.
He filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal on July 13 the same year on the conviction and sentence.
Judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin, who sat with judges Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Datuk Azman Abdullah, said they allowed the appeal and the Attorney-General's Chambers had accepted Chong's representation.
The AG-C also agreed to an amended charge against Chong for drug possesssion punishable under Section 39A(2) of the Act, to which he pleaded guilty.
"After hearing the oral submissions on the sentence and taking into the factor of public interest and Chong's mitigation, we unanimously rule that we allow his appeal.
"The conviction under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Act and the death sentence by hanging is set aside.
"The appellant (Chong) is convicted on the amended charge under Section 12(2) of the Act and punishable under Section 39A(2).
"He is sentenced to nine years jail effective from the date of his arrest on Nov 28, 2018 and 10 lashes," said Azmi in the judgment uploaded on the judiciary's website.
The facts of the prosecution's case read that at about 12.30am on Nov 28, 2018, police hauled the suspiciously behaved Chong to the KLIA2's Narcotics Crime Investigation Department for a body search.
He was found with multiple translucent packets of drugs strapped around several parts of his body including his thighs weighing a total 762.1g ; as well as 50,000 Korean Won in his tote bag.
Chong, in his defence, claimed he was deceived by a man named Thomas whom he met on the WeChat application.
He said Thomas had promised to pay him RM10,000 and provided him with a free flight ticket and accommodation to send several packages, which contents were unknown, to Busan in South Korea.
Chong said he would be accompanied by a woman to Busan and had his handphone seized by Thomas and replaced with another as a communication tool.
He said on Nov 17, 2018, he met with Thomas and a woman at a hotel where he had four packages filled with drugs strapped onto his body by three unknown men.
Chong said the men threatened to kill him and his family if he resisted before he was sent to KLIA2, with no chance to escape as he was tightly guarded.
However, the High Court found that Chong's defence was mere denial and an afterthought as he did not deny the drugs found on his body and there were no hotel related documents to support his evidence.
The court also found that Thomas and the three unknown men did not exist and were characters that Chong had made up as he could not furnish any information on them to the investigating officer to narrow in on the probe.