SINGAPORE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING; HIS BROTHER GETS LIFE IMPRISONMENT

March 17, 2020:

A man was sentenced to hang on 21 February 2020 by the Singapore High Court on drug-related charges, while in the same case his brother was sentenced to life in prison.
The two brothers gave conflicting defences in the High Court.
Mohamed Mubin Abdul Rahman, 59 - who got the death sentence - and Lokman Abdul Rahman, 55, were both convicted on 6 February for drug trafficking offences. Lokman was also found guilty of drug possession.
Court documents said Lokman was arrested by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers on 8 September 2015 with two bundles containing a total of 39.28g of diamorphine, as well as other packets of drugs, on him. The street name of diamorphine is heroin. CNB officers also searched his apartment at Katong Park Towers, where they found other drug packets.
Mubin was subsequently arrested on 5 October that year.
Court documents state that both brothers provided conflicting defences, including contradicting accounts on the day of Lokman's arrest.
Justice Valerie Thean stated that in sentencing both men last month, she noted that Lokman acted as a courier for Mubin.
She then exercised her discretion to sentence Lokman to life imprisonment, she said.
"I therefore pronounced the mandatory sentence of death on Mubin," Justice Thean said.