Malaysia's appeals court Wednesday upheld the convictions and death sentences on three Mexican brothers for drug trafficking, forcing them to appeal to the nation's top court as a last resort.
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| Mexican Brothers appeal thrown out by Malaysian Court of Appeal. |
The men still have one more opportunity to appeal to Malaysia's highest court after a Court of Appeals rejected their bids to be released.
The brothers surnamed Gonzalez Villarreal - Luis Alfonso, 44, Simon, 37 and Jose Regino, 33 - were sentenced to hang by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year for their part in a methamphetamine operation along with a Malaysian and a Singaporean.
The suspects were arrested at a factory in southern Malaysia in 2008, with police seizing almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of methamphetamine and chemicals used to produce the drug.
The Mexicans from Sinaloa state were arrested at a secluded Malaysian drug-making factory in 2008 and said they had been cleaning the place. The defendants, who also include a Singaporean and a Malaysian, plan to appeal the sentence.
Malaysia's High Court convicted them of drug trafficking in May 2012. The crime carries a mandatory penalty of death by hanging.
At the Court of Appeal, the brothers' lawyer argued that the alleged drugs used as evidence in their conviction had altered due to the passage of time before they were subjected to analysis by a chemist.
But the appeal was dismissed, leaving them with no other option but to take the matter to the Federal Court.
"The court finds all five accused are aware and are involved in the activity of drug-making," High Court Judge Mohamad Zawawi was quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency as saying.
"We are very sad. We thought we would be acquitted," said Luis Alfonso Gonzales, the eldest of the three Mexican brothers, as quoted by AP.
"I raised nine other points. The appeal will be filed ASAP," the trio's lawyer, Kitson Foong, told AFP.
The three brothers, from the northern state of Sinaloa, are believed to be the first Mexicans sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia.
Defense lawyer Kitson Foong said the men and their family were "keeping their hopes high" that their final appeal will succeed.
The brothers Jose Regino, Simon and Luis Alfonso Gonzales are the first Mexicans held in Malaysia on drug trafficking charges. They worked making and selling bricks in Mexico, and their family said they left for a job opportunity abroad.undreds of Malaysians and foreigners - including many from Iran - are on death row in Malaysia, mostly for drug trafficking.
The Mexicans come from the cradle of their country's drug trade but have no criminal record at home. Their relatives insist there was no sign they were involved in the drug trade
The offence carries a mandatory death penalty in Muslim-majority Malaysia, though executions are not publicly announced and activists say few are thought to have been hanged in recent years.
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