Kuala lumpur: A housewife broke down in tears after the Court of Appeal today acquitted and discharged her of trafficking 80.6 grammes of heroin and monoacetylmorphine. A three-man bench, led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, set aside Siti Aisyah Samdin's conviction and 30-year jail sentence previously imposed by the Seremban High Court.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Justice Azman stated, "We set aside the conviction and sentence by the High Court, and the accused is acquitted and discharged." Sitting with him were Court of Appeal judge Datuk Dr Choo Kah Sing and High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh. The court's unanimous decision highlighted the prosecution's failure to call the owner of the vehicle in which the drugs were found, as a critical factor in the case. The appellant had borrowed the vehicle and was shortly arrested afterwards, which led to a misdirection in the conviction concerning the exclusiveness and control of the vehicle.

Siti Aisyah, who will be 38 next month, was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment by the High Court on July 24, 2024. The charge sheet indicated that the offence occurred in a BMW car at a parking area near TF Value-Mart KIP Mart, in Taman Lavender Heights, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, at 5.15 pm on August 12, 2020.

The facts of the case reveal that police conducting surveillance detained Siti Aisyah, who was carrying a baby and appeared restless, frequently glancing around her surroundings without any apparent purpose. In her defence, the mother of five children claimed she had borrowed the car from her husband's first wife. Siti Aisyah stated she went to Semenyih to collect some items and then stopped briefly to buy necessities for her six-month-old baby before being arrested.

At the Court of Appeal today, Siti Aisyah was represented by lawyers Paul Krishnaraja, Amy Chong, and Virochean Stephan Soosai, while Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohamed Aznin Mohamed Ariff and Mohd Zain Ibrahim appeared for the prosecution.