09 July 2008 :

a husband and wife were given mandatory death sentences by judge Datuk Ahmad Maarop at the Malaysian High Court which found them guilty of distributing 12.25g of heroin five years ago. Azaha Abd Rani, a 49 year old taxi driver, and Zainun Mohd Noor, 42, both from Kelantan, were charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act and Section 12(2) of the same act for distributing heroin. They were charged with doing so on Dec 7, 2003 in front of a BP petrol station in Kampung Jabi, Besut. They were also charged with possession of 9.57g of heroin on the same date and place. Earlier, counsel for the couple, Aziz Derasid, appealed to the court to impose a lighter sentence on grounds that it was the couple's first offence besides the fact that they had four children, aged between 9 and 24.