SEREMBAN: The Seremban High court today has postponed the trial of a Korean student charged for allegedly trafficking 219 grams of Cannabis, last year.
Judge, Abu Bakar Jais said, the case of Kim Yun Soung, who was detained under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (1952) is postponed to Oct 4 to give time for the prosecutor to review the case, given the fact that one of the prosecution’s witnesses had admitted to lying during the trial of the case.
"A lie is a lie. The extension of lies can vary but the fact remains that lying in court is a serious offence more so when you are under oath to tell the truth,” he said.
Earlier, the accused lawyer, Gobind Sigh Deo had applied to institute contempt of court proceedings against the main witness who had admitted to giving contradictory facts during the trial of the case which started in March this year.
During the trial, the witness had admitted that he had forgotten on the fact that a man in handcuffs was present during a raid at the accused apartment in Bandar Baru Nilai.
Gobind said the officer had repeatedly maintained his statement that only 10 men were involved during the raid, despite the defence's insistence that a closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording clearly showed the presence of another individual in handcuffs during the raid.
“The excuse given that he forgot about the presence of the individual in handcuffs during the
raid was unacceptable. This can’t be tolerated and should be punished,” he said.
Abu Bakar said, the decision on the lawyer’s application will be made after the court hears the arguments from both sides if the deputy public prosecutor decides to proceed with the case.
Kim, 20, a student at one of the private colleges in Nilai, was arrested at a house in Nilai on Oct 19 at 12.30am last year, for allegedly being involved in the trafficking of 219 grams of cannabis.
For the offence, he is punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same Act which provides for the death sentence upon conviction.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rahimah Abd Majid in her argument said, the main witness of the case who gave a contradictory statement during the case hearing yesterday, has not been cross-examined.
"The witness has not been given the opportunity to clarify the statements. A contradiction occurred during the prosecution and cross-examination by the lawyer,” she said.
“The witness had given a contradictory statement on how the raid was conducted but the fact that drugs were discovered makes it remain as a prosecution case,” she said.
Kim, who looked composed during the proceedings, was also accompanied by his grandparents and representatives from the Korean embassy.