Former religious teacher jailed, caned for drug offences
Published on Nov 30, 2011
By Khushwant Singh
A former religious teacher, who was on the run for seven years following his conviction on drug charges, was sentenced to five years and six months in jail and five strokes of the cane on Friday for drug trafficking.
Muhamad Mohamad Ishak, 44, was also jailed a year for drug consumption but as the jail terms were ordered to run concurrently, he will serve five-and-a-half years in jail. On Wednesday, his lawyer Shashi Nathan told The Straits Times that an appeal had been filed against the sentence.
At the hearing last week, Mr Nathan of Inca Law, had asked for a lenient sentence as Mohamad was a first offender and the amount of drugs was small.
Muhamad is the former honorary secretary of the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association or Pergas. During his trial in 2004, the court had heard that the Central Narcotics Bureau officers raided Strand Hotel in Bencoolen Street in July 2003, where Muhamad had taken a room with his Uzbekistan girlfriend.
Two packs of cannabis were seized from his car.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
