20 year penal servitude upheld against woman drug trafficker

Mrs M.A.R. Rossan will have to serve the 20 years’ penal servitude pronounced last year by the Assizes Court after she was found guilty of the offence of possession of 228,9 grams of heroin contained in a parcel for the purpose of distribution in breach of section 30 (1) (f) (ii) of the Dangerous Drugs Act and to pay a fine of Rs 75,000. Her appeal against her conviction was rejected sometime in December last year. In its judgment the Full Bench of the Supreme Court, constituting of the Chief Justice, Keshoe Parsad Matadeen, and Justices Mrs Ah Foon Chui Yew Cheong and Mrs AD Narain, has set aside the appeal on the ground that it is devoid of merit. “In the circumstances, we are not prepared to say that there has been any breach of appellant’s right to be informed promptly of the charge against her or of her right to be given adequate time and facilities for her defence, or any unfairness arising from the fact that the alleged reply or arrest was not put to the appellant when her defence statement was being recorded by the police,” the appeal Bench concluded in its judgment. “We therefore hold that Ground 6 is also devoid of merit. The appeal is accordingly dismissed”. Furthermore the three judges made an observation that they found disturbing the references made by both the appellant and the first accused to the various calls they received from mobile phones in the possession of the detainee. “We bear in mind that the events in the present case took place in 2009 but nevertheless feel it incumbent upon us to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to this state of affairs,” they underlined.. The appellant had pleaded not guilty before the trial Court and was assisted by Counsel. In the same information, but in a different count, one Bibi Sabeena Jaffer (the first accused) was prosecuted for the offence of possession of 228,9 grams of heroin contained in one plastic sachet and in 3 white capsules, for the purpose of delivery; she pleaded guilty to the charge and after the averment of trafficking was dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and she was found guilty as charged by the trial Judge. Evidence was adduced by the prosecution. On 14 November 2009 at around 4 p.m, following a tip-off, PC Hossen, WPS Nagiah and other police officers from the Anti- Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU), stopped car bearing registration number 2367 MY 00 in Port Louis and found the first accused (Bibi Sabeena Jafer) on the rear seat of the car and in possession of a black plastic, which when opened, was found to contain another transparent plastic bag secured with transparent adhesive tape, and a piece of black plastic wrapping 3 white pellets containing a powder suspected to be heroin. Following questioning of the first accused, the police officers decided to undertake a controlled delivery of the suspected drug. The controlled delivery was effected at the entrance of Champ de Mars racing grounds. The appellant was seen to be sitting on a bench in d’Estaing Street in the attire she had described on the phone earlier. The latter had a brief conversation with the appellant and handed over the parcel to her. She was arrested on the spot by the ADSU officers. Forensic examination of the exhibit was found to contain heroin with 6% purity. The drugs were assessed to worth Rs 3,433,000. After her conviction, the appellant appealed on 7 grounds: the trial Judge erred in his finding of the guilt of the appellant, the sentence was wrong in principle, manifestly harsh and excessive, and the appellant has a clean record.