ID :
190756
Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:14
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https://oananews.org//node/190756
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Defense testimony ends at Japanese woman's drug trial in Malaysia
The trial of a Japanese woman facing the death penalty for drug trafficking in Malaysia edged closer to resolution Thursday.
Mariko Takeuchi, 36, is accused of trying to smuggle 3.5 kilogram of methamphetamines into Malaysia through Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Oct. 31, 2009, a crime that carries a mandatory death penalty if she is found guilty.
Takeuchi, who has pleaded not guilty, completed testimony in her own defense Thursday.
Her lawyer Sallehuddin Saidin told the Shah Alam High Court Takeuchi would be the only defense witness because the defense was unable to locate another witness, a Malaysian woman Takeuchi said was a friend she was to meet upon arrival in Malaysia in October 2009.
Her lawyer intended to show Takeuchi's visit to Malaysia was social, and not to smuggle drugs, but because Takeuchi only knew the woman's first name, the defense was unable to find her.
Testifying in her defense, Takeuchi, a nurse, told the court a suitcase in which drugs were found inside a secret compartment was not hers and that she had no knowledge of the drugs.
She was ''merely'' doing an acquaintance a favor by delivering the suitcase from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, she told the court.
She claimed she did not know the name of the suitcase's owner, but said she had ''trusted'' him because he was introduced to her by another friend, named Alex.
She said she did not known Alex's full name, but said both men were Iranian.
Earlier, she had told the court she went to Dubai to meet Alex because his girlfriend, who was Takeuchi's former colleague, was having financial difficulties and needed money from him.
Sallehuddin then asked Takeuchi to explain why she made six trips to Malaysia via Dubai between September and October 2009.
Takeuchi said Alex had been unwilling to give her the money her former colleague needed, but Takeuchi was unwilling to return to Japan without the money.
''So I decided to wait in Malaysia. If I had gone back to Japan, the cost would be higher,'' she said through an interpreter.
She also told the court she wanted to meet her Malaysian friend.
With the end of Takeuchi's testimony, the prosecution and defense will sum up their arguments at a date yet to be set.
After the final arguments, the judge will set another date to deliver a verdict.
Takeuchi is the first Japanese national to be tried on a drug trafficking charge that carries a mandatory death sentence in Malaysia.
Mariko Takeuchi, 36, is accused of trying to smuggle 3.5 kilogram of methamphetamines into Malaysia through Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Oct. 31, 2009, a crime that carries a mandatory death penalty if she is found guilty.
Takeuchi, who has pleaded not guilty, completed testimony in her own defense Thursday.
Her lawyer Sallehuddin Saidin told the Shah Alam High Court Takeuchi would be the only defense witness because the defense was unable to locate another witness, a Malaysian woman Takeuchi said was a friend she was to meet upon arrival in Malaysia in October 2009.
Her lawyer intended to show Takeuchi's visit to Malaysia was social, and not to smuggle drugs, but because Takeuchi only knew the woman's first name, the defense was unable to find her.
Testifying in her defense, Takeuchi, a nurse, told the court a suitcase in which drugs were found inside a secret compartment was not hers and that she had no knowledge of the drugs.
She was ''merely'' doing an acquaintance a favor by delivering the suitcase from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, she told the court.
She claimed she did not know the name of the suitcase's owner, but said she had ''trusted'' him because he was introduced to her by another friend, named Alex.
She said she did not known Alex's full name, but said both men were Iranian.
Earlier, she had told the court she went to Dubai to meet Alex because his girlfriend, who was Takeuchi's former colleague, was having financial difficulties and needed money from him.
Sallehuddin then asked Takeuchi to explain why she made six trips to Malaysia via Dubai between September and October 2009.
Takeuchi said Alex had been unwilling to give her the money her former colleague needed, but Takeuchi was unwilling to return to Japan without the money.
''So I decided to wait in Malaysia. If I had gone back to Japan, the cost would be higher,'' she said through an interpreter.
She also told the court she wanted to meet her Malaysian friend.
With the end of Takeuchi's testimony, the prosecution and defense will sum up their arguments at a date yet to be set.
After the final arguments, the judge will set another date to deliver a verdict.
Takeuchi is the first Japanese national to be tried on a drug trafficking charge that carries a mandatory death sentence in Malaysia.
