Malaysian twins escape death penalty
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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - - A pair of identical twins escaped being convicted and hanged on drugs charges in Malaysia, due to confusion over which one of them was the culprit, reports said on Saturday.
The 27-year-old twins, R. Sathis Raj and Sabarish Raj, had been charged with trafficking 166 kilos of cannabis and 1.7 kilos of raw opium in 2003. But police had trouble identifying which one was in possession of the drugs.
"This is a very unique case as they are identical twins. Even the DNA evidence could not prove anything as the DNA could be either Sathis' or Sabarish's," said High Court judge Zaharah Ibrahim.
"I can't be calling the wrong twin to enter his defence. I can't be sending the wrong person to the gallows," she said according to the New Straits Times as she acquitted the pair.
The court heard that one of the twins was caught taking a car load of drugs to a house in suburban Kuala Lumpur. After he was apprehended the other twin arrived at the house and was also arrested.
"It is clear that the first twin who was caught was the only one who had access to the house. Therefore, it is impossible for him not to know what was inside the bags," the judge said according to the daily.
However, she said there was reasonable doubt as to which twin had been arrested first. The brothers cried and embraced family members in the court room when the verdict was handed down.
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Congrats to both of them for having the second chance to repent.
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Only in Malaysia is such a thing possible.....
True, identical twins cannot be identified by DNA..... but surely those bungling cops should have a way to tell them apart since they were arrested at different times?
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why is this moved to here?
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dun tell me their clothing also identical?
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malaysia truely asia...
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Originally posted by fudgester:
Only in Malaysia is such a thing possible.....
True, identical twins cannot be identified by DNA..... but surely those bungling cops should have a way to tell them apart since they were arrested at different times?
Seriously it can't be ONLY M'sia.
But it is quite screwed-up.
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ridiculous judgement, ridiculous investigation work, 166 kg of cannabis!! The state will definitely appeal against the finding
the judge probably acquitted them because the evidence cannot prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt, in the first place the prosecution shouldn't have tried isolating the person
the prosecution should have tried imputing the common intention to traffick on both, so that none can escape.
one caught driving the drugs to house, the other caught arriving at house, very probable that both are involved in the trafficking -
Malaysia boleh..................
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SG would have sentenced both to the gallows. Guilty until proven innoncent.
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When the other twin arrive it should have been obvious that there will be an identity issue. No attempt was made to mark out the felon. Keep separated, and then mark with indelible ink used by the election dept.
The arriving twin may not have been involved in trafficking at all.
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Just wow! yeah if it happens in somewhere else, especially the country neighbour of Malaysia (you guys should be able to guess where~) , they'd have been both been sentenced to death with a yet more interesting cover up story ! hah... Media power! Innocent got killed, at least they've got sympathy... NOT LIKE the country I mentioned earlier~
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that's lucky
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DNA might be identical but am pretty sure fingerprints are unique. That's quite a screw up by their boys!
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Originally posted by mancha:
When the other twin arrive it should have been obvious that there will be an identity issue. No attempt was made to mark out the felon. Keep separated, and then mark with indelible ink used by the election dept.
The arriving twin may not have been involved in trafficking at all.
That's precisely the point.
As the judge pointed out, the first twin would definitely be the guilty party since he was the only one who was caught red-handed with the drugs as he was shifting them to the house.
As soon as the second twin was arrested, the cops should have taken immediate measures to make sure that the twins can be told apart. Reasonable measures like putting them in separate cars and fingerprinting them separately would have prevented this sort of nonsense from happening.
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For once its good to have a twin sister!
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A bad twin,a false arrest and a good lawyer is all it takes to get out of double trouble.
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Good im glad they got a second chance, this country is really harsh on drug laws, yeah i can see why on heroin and cocain but death penalty for cannabis!?!?
Cannabis isnt even that harmfull there has been no recorded deaths from it yet its cigarettes and alcohol that seem to be legal.