HKSAR v. Dramane Mouhamed Saiti

HCCC 24/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 24 OF 2016

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Transcript of the Audio Recording

of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: Mr Saiti, you have been convicted of trafficking in 442 grammes of cocaine by the jury, and that cocaine at the time of the offence had a street value of in excess of $1.4 million.

I had the opportunity to see and hear you in the trial during which you gave a version of events which the jury clearly disbelieved.

You came into this country in December 2013 as a refugee, and you have abused the trust of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and used your position to traffic in dangerous drugs. That is a crime which has serious consequences to the citizens of this country, especially the young and the vulnerable, and I do consider that breach of trust an aggravating feature in the commission of this offence.

It is only because of your immigration claim that you were allowed to remain in Hong Kong at all. You were allowed to remain because we, as a country, have international obligations under Human Rights provisions in our Basic Law. We do not detain you whilst your immigration claim is being processed because we are a society that is governed by the rule of law. We place a premium on the rights of the individual and one of those rights is your right to liberty. So you have your liberty whilst your claim is being processed, but the residents of Hong Kong take a risk because they expect that you will lead a law-abiding life; and you did not.

I have listened to what Mr McGuinniety has said on your behalf and, inevitably, he accepts that there is very little which he can say which will mitigate the sentence I have to pass.

There is a guideline case for trafficking in dangerous drugs which are cocaine. That guideline case is HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 1 HKLR 370. In that case, the Court of Appeal has said that for trafficking in between 400 and 600 grammes of cocaine, the range of sentence is between 15 and 20 years.

For trafficking in 442 grammes of cocaine, the starting point after trial for sentence would be 15 years and 6 months. I am going to enhance that sentence by 6 months for the aggravating feature of the breach of trust placed in you by the Hong Kong SAR when it allowed you to remain as a refugee, and as there is no mitigation which can reduce that sentence, you will go to prison for this offence for 16 years.