MALAYSIA'S high court yesterday dismissed an urgent appeal by the public prosecutor to toughen a six-week sentence and fine imposed on Australian drug-smuggler Gordana Parezanovic.

The ruling effectively means Parezanovic is free to leave Kuala Lumpur today, as her sentence was backdated to the day of her arrest on February 27.

Her lawyer, Karpal Singh, said yesterday Parezanovic's husband would pay her 10,000 ringgit ($4960) fine this morning, which would free her from custody. He said the couple planned to leave Kuala Lumpur for Belgrade tonight.

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UNDER an amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act, those arrested on suspicion of drug taking can be fined up to RM10,000 and jailed up to four years if they fail to provide a urine sample for testing.

Another amendment will allow police officers above the rank of sergeant or Customs officers to require an arrested person to provide a urine sample if it is not possible for a medical officer to do so within a reasonable period.

According to the explanatory notes on the proposed amendments, "the procurement of the urine specimen by a police officer or a Customs officer under this provision is solely for the purpose of preservation of evidence."

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PETALING JAYA: Police are waiting to question a new police constable who was found with some heroin after being sent unconscious to a hospital following a road accident on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old constable, attached to the Subang Jaya police station, graduated from the police training centre last year.

He was driving from Putrajaya to Subang Jaya during a downpour on Tuesday when the accident occurred. His 22-year-old female colleague was with him at that time.

The car skidded and rammed into a divider at the Leburaya Damansara- Puchong near the IOI Mall at 4pm, resulting in both of them being warded.

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Hundreds of Indonesian immigrant workers have rioted in central Malaysia after a police drugs raid on their hostel.

About 400 textile workers threw stones, chairs and bottles, and overturned police vehicles before retreating to the hostel in Nilai.

Police say the violence began after they tried to detain 16 workers who had failed urine tests for drug abuse. Fourteen of the suspects escaped. The protests come just over a month after 2,000 illegal Indonesian immigrants rioted and set fire to a detention centre in southern Malaysia.

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He Is The First To Be Sentenced To Death In Malaysia For Trafficking In Ecstasy Since The Dangerous Drugs Act Was Amended

PENANG - A 33-year-old Singaporean man yesterday became the first person to be sentenced to death in Malaysia for trafficking in Ecstasy pills since the Dangerous Drugs Act was amended in 1998.

Koh Tiong Hock was found guilty by a High Court of trafficking in 7,468 pills containing 801.7 g of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) at Departure Gate Six of the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas here on July 21, 2000.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- An athlete at the Southeast Asian Games failed a drug test, the first positive test for a banned substance at the competition.

Organizers on Sunday would not identify the athlete or say whether a medal was at stake.

In the 1999 Southeast Asian Games in Brunei, there were three drug cases.

Thai marksman Somboon Vongveeranonchai was stripped of his gold medal when his test revealed traces of marijuana. The other two cases were later dismissed.

The games began Sept. 8 and end Monday.

[end]

Kuala Lumpur: Police detained 80 men and 31 women after they tested positive for drugs in raids at four entertainment outlets in the Klang Valley yesterday.

Police said the 111, aged between 20 and 42, will be charged in court on Monday under Section 15A of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or two years' jail upon conviction.

Federal Deputy Director of narcotics Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Mukhtar Ismail said a 150 member police team conducted the raid.

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All Those Arrested For Criminal Offences Will Undergo Compulsory Drug Tests From Next Month.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Jamil Johari said all state police headquarters would be directed to be equipped with the necessary equipment.

"It has been the practice to conduct random drug tests on those believed to be drug addicts.

"Now everyone arrested for criminal offences will be tested for drug abuse," Mohd Jamil told reporters after chairing a meeting on strategies to combat crime in east coast at the Pahang police contingent headquarters here yesterday.

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KOTA BARU -- One hundred and twenty-nine private practitioners have been roped in by the Government to serve those who need help to overcome their drug addiction.

National Drug Agency deputy director-general Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad said these centres had been accredited by the agency, and they were intended mainly for those who were more well-off and those who preferred a more personalised treatment regime.

He was speaking to reporters yesterday after closing a one-day seminar on drug problems in the workplace.

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Govt Says Anti-Money Laundering Act Will Make Seizures Easier

KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government has seized assets worth close to RM22 million (S$10 million) from big-time drug dealers in the country.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Shafie Mohd Salleh said the assets were seized under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Seizure of Assets) between 1996 and last year.

He said the government hoped to catch more drug dealers with the enforcement of the Anti-Money Laundering Act soon.

The Act would make it easier for the authorities to seize assets from unlawful activities, he said when winding up the debate on the Anti-Money Laundering Bill 2001 in Parliament on Wednesday.

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Its notoriety as a drug addicts' haunt came into the spotlight after reports of a heroin addict who brought along his child to get his daily fix

A MAN in tattered clothes beckons cars which pass by to park near where he stands.

Identifying himself as Lim, the man gets loose change from owners of the cars who park their vehicles at the roadside in Lorong Haji Taib.

Looking like he had not taken a bath for weeks, he said this was how he funded his heroin addiction.

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JOHOR BARU: The Transport Ministry will look into the reasons and the types of drugs popularly used by commercial vehicle drivers.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said further inquiries would be conducted on those tested positive for such drug abuse to ascertain the type of drugs that they consume.

"We need to know if they are seriously hooked on to drugs or are just consuming energy drinks to keep them awake through late night duties.

"We are very concerned that many drivers were tested positive. To get rid of the problem we need to know the root cause of it.

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RAUB (Pahang) - About 100 inmates at the Kundang Patah Semantan drug rehabilitation centre here caused havoc during a riot on Thursday night.

They set a vehicle and a building on fire, and also vandalised other buildings.

The incident started when inmates torched a lorry and a three-storey administrative building, damaging two floors. All the documents on the two floors were also destroyed.

National Drug Agency chief Datuk Salleh Mat Som said that they may be charged with arson. This could lead to jail sentences of 20 years.

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A widowed drug addict father cares so much for his three-year-old daughter that he refuses to be separated from her. As a result he takes her on his regular rounds of fixes, exposing her to the risks of filthy and dangerous haunts.

The man turns down adoption offers for the child, ostensibly because she gives him a reason to live--and to turn over a new leaf. In the meantime the child is exposed to the horrors of a nether world.

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Drugs and sex are a lethal combination. Sex for money to buy drugs is what drives teenage sex workers like Mei Ling to the streets. Niluksi Koswanage talks to her about her life and hopes.

HE was 55 and she was 16 when they went on their first date more than two years ago. He took her out to dinner and asked her about her life and aspirations.

"I told him how I hated my family," she recalls. "And he said, 'Okay, let's go back to my place and I'll just have sex with you. I'll give you RM250 if you just let me have sex with you'."

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KUCHING: Of 255 drug dependents identified in Sarawak up to the end of August this year, 95% were first timers.

Disclosing this, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said most of them said they turned to drugs because of peer pressure.

The majority of drug dependents were aged between 20 and 29 and they were mainly hooked on amphetamines, he told a teachers' forum regarding a drug-free generation here yesterday.

The event was organised by the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) youth wing, which has launched a campaign to curb drug abuse, like the use of Ecstasy pills.

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JOHOR BARU: All entertainment outlets and nightspots will soon be required to put up warning signs on Ecstasy pills at the entrances as a reminder to their customers.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said a circular on the ruling was issued to all local authorities two weeks ago.

"The warning sign serves to keep the public alert to the dangers of Ecstasy.

"The warning will be written in three major languages--Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil," he said after launching the state-level social ills awareness campaign by the MCA.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are now crossing over to a neighbouring country to get their supply of Ecstasy pills from discos and nightclubs there.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said they would cross over during the weekend, spend a night there and then return the following day.

"They think their bodies will no longer have any trace of the drug by then,'' he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.

Chor said that at present, the Government had no agreement with enforcement agencies in other neighbouring countries to nab these addicts and drug pushers.

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PENANG: Syndicates selling Ecstasy and syabu pills may have altered their contents to create a new product complete with a new name.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin said the new pills may already be in the market.

"People have to be careful because these culprits will use whatever means to sell their drugs,'' he told reporters yesterday after the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Dr Hamdan Sheikh Tahir flagged off some 200 people who took part in the 3.5km "Anti-Dadah Run'' at Fort Cornwallis here.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Random urine tests conducted at schools reveal that the number of students under the influence of drugs has declined compared to last year.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim said yesterday that of the total 4.29 million students nationwide, 328 students tested positive in random checks last year, while only 103 were identified up till August this year.

"I would like to explain that the problem of students taking drugs is under control,'' he said.

However, Hon stressed that drug abuse should be nipped in the bud and the target of drug-free schools by 2012 be achieved as soon as possible.

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