July 21
MALAYSIA:
Man In Malaysia Sentenced To Death For Selling Marijuana
In one of the most disgusting stories I've ever read, it appears that a 37 year
old Nigerian man has been sentenced to death for selling marijuana in Malaysia.
Not a fine. Not jail. Death. This man will face the death penalty for selling a
substance that has never killed anyone in the history of mankind. Per New
Straits Times:
A Nigerian college student gets death for trafficking 26.5kg of cannabis 4
years ago. High Court judge Datin Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah today sentenced
Uchechukwu Nelson Ohaechesi, 37, to be hanged for trafficking the drugs at the
side of an overhead bridge stairwell at the Kajang-bound Taman Connought
highway, Cheras here, around 7.45pm on Oct 17, 2010. Amelia ruled that
Uchechukwu failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case and that
his defense amounted to "an afterthought, pure fabrication and untrue".
People are legally selling marijuana right now in Washington State and
Colorado, and it has led to virtually no issues. Yet, in Malaysia, the court
determined that selling marijuana was such a heinous act that it warrants the
death penalty. This makes my heart heavy in a way that I don't think I can ever
accurately capture in words. No one should be penalized for marijuana, let
alone lose their life by being hung from a noose.
Some people might brush this off and think of it as an example of a country
with ultra harsh laws, and that it's far removed from what is going on in the
United States. To these people I would offer up this fact - a man is serving a
life sentence in Missouri right now for marijuana-only offenses. Jeff Mizanskey
hasn't received the death penalty in Missouri, but he will never be let out of
jail according to his sentence. His life has been taken from him, and his
friends and family will never get to spend quality time with him, solely
because he was arrested for marijuana.
(source: Johnny Green, The Weed Blog)
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