The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka has overturned the death sentence issued by the Negombo High Court against Maldivian national Yugeeth Ibrahim and ordered his immediate release.
This case stems from an incident on May 22, 2018, when Yugeeth was arrested near the Emirates counter at Bandaranaike International Airport based on information received by the Police Narcotics Bureau.
Police alleged that inside his bag were 12 packets wrapped in carbon paper containing 1.296 kilograms of heroin.
In this case, the state raised three charges against Yugeeth: possession, trafficking, and importation of drugs. Following the trial in the Negombo High Court, although he was acquitted of the trafficking and importation charges, he was found guilty of drug possession and sentenced to death.
However, after reviewing the case, the appellate bench consisting of Judge Amal Ranaraja and Judge Dr. Sumudu Premachandra highlighted major legal and procedural flaws in the lower court's decision.
Accordingly, the court noted that the WhatsApp message used by police to identify the suspect was not submitted to trial, raising doubts over identity, and that there was a difference of 17.44 grams between the weight of the drugs allegedly seized by police and the weight received by the government analyst.
Furthermore, the judges highlighted that the chain of custody of evidence was compromised, there were contradictions among witnesses regarding the numbering of items, and a substance not recorded in police documents was found among the items sent to the analyst. It was also noted that the items were not sealed or weighed at the time of his arrest, and there were significant delays in recording statements.
With that, the Court of Appeal ruled that the state had failed to prove criminal intent against Yugeeth. The court also concluded that given he has been in custody for about eight years since 2018, and due to the absence of crucial evidence, holding a retrial would not be just.
Consequently, the court set aside the Negombo High Court's death sentence along with the charges against Yugeeth, and ordered his immediate release.
