High Court frees man detained for 2 years under drug law

The High Court in Johor Bahru has ordered the release of a man detained for two years under a preventive drug law, ruling that the authorities failed to prove he was part of a larger drug trafficking group.

Justice Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad allowed Muhammad Haziq Hamid’s habeas corpus application, holding that the detention order issued under the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985 was unlawful.

The judge said the grounds of detention and seven allegations of fact advanced by the prosecution merely asserted that Haziq, 33, was part of a “large group”, without providing any particulars of the group’s existence or his connection to it.

The allegations included purchasing and selling Erimin 5 pills and syabu, receiving one kilogramme of cannabis, and acting as a middleman in drug deliveries.

The judge said the allegations described individual drug transactions rather than any concerted activity involving a substantial group of people.

“The repetition of a phrase, however many times, is a conclusion and not a statement of particulars,” Atan said in his 41-page judgment.

He added that the documents did not state how many people were involved, whether an organisation existed, or whether there was any joint action or common purpose.

“The law requires more than a label,” he said, adding that the grounds and allegations had to show, rather than merely assert, that the deputy minister had considered whether Haziq belonged to a substantial group.

The judge also rejected the authorities’ reliance on confidential investigation reports, which were not produced in court.

“The reports, and the further consideration by the advisory board, which were not before the court, cannot repair that omission,” he said.

The judge said the authorities failed to show that two essential requirements identified by the Federal Court in an earlier ruling had been met.

Atan did not make any ruling on other arguments advanced by Haziq, including whether his arrest was lawful and whether the “public order” requirement had been satisfied.

The application was brought against the deputy home minister, the inspector-general of police and the director of the Simpang Renggam moral rehabilitation centre, where Haziq was detained.

Muhammad Kadir appeared for Haziq, while deputy public prosecutor Afdhallan Syafiq Azmy and federal counsel Intan Nazurah Zailani represented the government.

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