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By Priscilla Dielenber
GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA - A pregnant housewife and her mother have been charged in a magistrates court here with trafficking in 882gm of heroin inside a bank.
Hwei Wen Chiu, 27, and Lim Ah Mooi, 50, are alleged to have committed the offence at the Beach Street branch of the RHB Bank Bhd here at 11.20am on Dec 5.
No plea was recorded at this stage and there is no provision for bail as the offence under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Acts 1952 carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
However, Hwei's lawyer Jagdeep Singh Deo applied to the court to exercise its discretion under Section 388(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code and allow Hwei bail because she is two months' pregnant.
He said prison was not conducive for a woman in her early stage of pregnancy and cited the case of a prominent lawyer, then 81, who was granted bail by a High Court in 2002 pending trial for murder because of his age and poor health.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Nor Afidah Mohd Sarayany objected to the application, saying that the case at the stage of the magistrate's court was only for the reading of the charge.
"I have not been informed of the health condition of the accused and there is no medical report to support this application," she said.
Magistrate Noor Fadzila Ishak disallowed bail for Hwei.
Jagdeep Singh then requested the court to fix an early mention date, saying that he would make a representation to the Attorney-General's Chambers on the case.
Noor Fadzila fixed Jan 8 for mention pending the representation and the chemist's report. Hwei's mother was unrepresented.
Earlier, Hwei, who was handcuffed to her mother, was seen holding back her tears and turning away when her year-old son reached out for her inside the courtroom before the proceedings started.
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