PUTRAJAYA: A Yemeni man was spared the gallows today after he was acquitted by the Federal Court of drug trafficking.
Yahya Hussein Mohsen Abdulrab, 31, was sentenced to death by hanging in 2014 by the Tawau High Court in Sabah.
He was found guilty of trafficking 1,800 grams of Methamphatamine.
Today, a three-member bench led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat set him free after unanimously allowing his appeal.
The bench which also comprised Federal Court judges Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan made the decision after hearing the matter.
Yahya's lawyer Rahmat Hazlan said the court in its decision cited the incompetency of his client's previous counsel who conducted the trial.
He said the Court of Appeal had quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial last year after concluding that Yahya had been deprived of his right to a fair trial due to the 'flagrant incompetence' of his counsel.
Although the Federal Court in its decision today agreed that the previous counsel was 'flagrantly incompetent', it held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to order a retrial instead of a complete acquittal, Rahmat added.
"The Federal Court decided that a retrial would be unfair as there was a breach of the constitutional safeguards, and as a result the trial process was unfair," he said.
He said the appellant had been incarcerated for more than eight years and the court was also of the view that it was unfair to order a retrial as it could lead to Yahya languishing in jail further.
On the merits, Rahmat said the additional evidence clearly show more than a reasonable doubt had arisen in the prosecution's case and the order for retrial or a reduction to a lower offence of possession was unsafe.
Yahya was also represented by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed while deputy public prosecutor Hanim Mohd Rashid prosecuted.
According to the charge sheet, Yahya had trafficked in 1,800.28 grams of Methamphatamine at the Arrival Hall of Tawau Airport at about 11am on July 25, 2013
The charge under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.