KUALA LUMPUR – Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, who is currently detained after being charged with trafficking cannabis, is seeking a court order to declare that legal provisions disallowing bail under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 are unconstitutional.
In court documents dated September 27 sighted by Scoop, Rawther who previously served as research assistant to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, stated that Section 41B of the Dangerous Drugs Act limits the court’s discretion.
The section prohibits granting bail for drug offences which carry the penalty of life imprisonment or death.
Additionally, although Rawther is charged with trafficking cannabis under Section 39B of the same act which carries the punishment of death, he is also seeking an order to be granted bail.
The court documents filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court also mentioned that legislation prohibiting bail violates the doctrine of separation of powers enshrined in Article 121 of the Federal Constitution.
He said that parliament should not interfere with the court’s exercise of power which includes granting of bail to accused persons.
“The accused which has been charged under Section 39B has no other choice but to rot in prison under the completion of his case, even though he has yet to be found guilty of an offence,” the court document said.
On September 6, Rawther was arrested after authorities reportedly found two firearms and cannabis in his vehicle near his residence at Kondominium Senada in Jalan Bukit Kiara.
He was later charged only with trafficking cannabis on September 12 at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court with Rawther claiming trial and alleging he was set up “by those in power”.
Rawther’s laywer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali believes that his client, who has brought a sexual assault case against Anwar in a civil suit, “is being persecuted”. – October 2, 2024
