KUALA LUMPUR – Nasyid composer and singer Muhammad Yasin Sulaiman has been sentenced to life imprisonment and 16 strokes of the cane by the Shah Alam High Court today after being found guilty of three drug-related charges dating back two years.
The sentence was handed down by judge Datuk Norsharidah Awang after Yasin, 48, the singer of the popular song Mimpi Laila, was convicted on all three counts during the appeal hearing.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin and Ahmad Zuhaini Mahamad Amin, while Yasin was represented by lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein.
This ruling comes after judge Norsharidah allowed the prosecution’s appeal against the decision of Petaling Jaya sessions court judge Faiz Dziyauddin, who had previously acquitted and discharged Yasin on November 29, 2023.
At that time, judge Faiz Dziyauddin had ordered the 48-year-old singer to be placed at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, for an indefinite period as per the Selangor sultan’s discretion.
Upon hearing the verdict, Yasin remarked: “Today is a dark day for me.”
He was then escorted by police, handcuffed, to Kajang Prison.
On March 24 last year, Yasin was charged with possessing 193.7g of cannabis at a condominium in Persiaran Surian Damansara Indah Resort Home, PJU 3, Kota Damansara, at 5.30pm on March 24, 2022.
For this offence, Yasin was charged under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39A(2) of the same act, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment or a minimum of five years and a minimum of 10 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
In the second charge, Yasin was accused of cultivating 17 cannabis plants in plastic pots containing soil at the same place, time, and date. He was charged under Section 6B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which is punishable under Section 6B(3) of the same Act.
The penalty under this section mandates life imprisonment and at least six strokes of the cane if found guilty.
For the third charge, Yasin was accused of self-administering the drug “11-nor-delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid” or THC at the Narcotics Office of the Petaling Jaya police headquarters at 11.05pm on the same date.
This offence was charged under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and is punishable under Section 15(1) of the same act, carrying a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum prison sentence of two years upon conviction.
Initially, Yasin also faced a fourth charge of trafficking 214g of cannabis at his home, a charge that carried the death penalty. However, he was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in July 2022. – 22 August 2024