[420 Girl]

PUTRAJAYA: He was on Death Row for the past nine years but when his case came up for appeal yesterday, a vegetable seller had every reason to smile. Baha Jambol's conviction was amended from trafficking to possession which meant that his death sentence was overturned.

The reason for the amendment was simply because the High Court judge who had found him guilty of trafficking in 50kg of cannabis and had sentenced him to death, only delivered the written judgment on Sept 26 -- more than nine years after sentencing Baha.

Deputy public prosecutor C.K. Wong told the court that the prosecution realised the special circumstances in Baha's case.

"There was a delay in providing the judgment. But this, in no way represented the weakness of the prosecution," Wong said.

Baha's counsel Karpal Singh said he accepted the reduction of the charge and withdrew his application for his client to be freed.

Baha, 45, a vegetable seller from Pasir Mas, Kelantan, was charged with trafficking in 50,607.5g of cannabis in front of the Gua Musang police station about 12.30am on Dec 31, 1996.

He was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court on April 26, 1998, while his friend, Azman Ahmad, 35, was acquitted without his defence being called.

Karpal, in mitigation, had earlier said while there was no doubt the amount of cannabis was large, his client had to wait nine years and six months to get the judgment. Baha is also married with three children.

"I urge the court to consider these important factors as this is the first case where a person on Death Row had to wait more than nine years for the written judgment," Karpal said.

Wong said while there was no weakness in the prosecution's case, the court should not allow a light jail sentence as the amount of drugs was large.

"We are proposing that he be sentenced to the maximum 20 years' imprisonment with more than 10 strokes of the rotan," Wong said.

Wong also told the court that prosecution was withdrawing its appeal against the decision to free Azman.

Judge Datuk Wira Low Hop Bing who sat with judges Datuk Md Raus Shariff and Datuk Zainun Ali sentenced Baha to 18 years' jail and 12 strokes of the rotan. His sentence was to begin from the date of his arrest on Dec 31, 1996.

"I am happy. Thank God," Baha said after sentencing.

Baha's plight was reported in the New Straits Times on Aug 21. He was among several Death Row inmates whose appeals have been postponed several times as a result of unwritten judgments by the lower courts.

At least two similar cases are scheduled to be heard at the Court of Appeal this week.

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