SHAH ALAM: The lawyer representing a Saudi Arabian student in a drug trafficking case warned that he would discharge himself if his client refused to plead guilty to a lower charge.

Counsel Gurbachan Singh said this after Muhamed Tariq Abualjadeil, 21, refused to plead guilty to a reduced charge of drug possession, which would spare him the mandatory death sentence.

"I did not do this, so why must I admit to it?

"I don't want to plead guilty to these two charges. I was not involved in this," he told judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad after the charges were read out to him at the Shah Alam High Court.

Syed Ahmad, who had difficulty understanding what Tariq was trying to say, asked Gurbachan to speak instead.
He was told that Tariq had agreed to accept the reduced charge when it was offered, but changed his mind at the last minute.

"He was okay with it till this morning. But, suddenly, he changed his mind."

Tariq was charged yesterday with possessing 2.57kg of cannabis at the entrance of Cyber Heights Villa, Dengkil, Sepang, at 1am on Nov 18, 2006.

He was initially charged with trafficking in the drugs.

Refusing to consult with Gurbachan, Tariq told the court he wanted to wait until his father, a government officer in Saudi Arabia, arrived at the end of the week.

"He called his father but could not get through. I have already told him that I would discharge myself if he did not plead guilty," Gurbachan said.

However, he added that he could not force his client to plead guilty.

Syed Ahmad then ordered that a mention date be fixed for Dec 9, after Tariq's father arrives.