A 34 -year -old Frenchman who accused drug detention and trafficking, accusations he disputes, has been judged since Monday, June 16 in Malaysia, where he risks the death penalty, said his lawyer.
Tom Félix, former executive of the Veolia Group, graduated in Aquaculture and Marine Biology and a point to open a restaurant in Langkawi, was arrested on August 9, 2023 on this island in the northwest of Malaysia.
In the house where he was received by his Malaysian partner, the police found several hundred grams of cannabis in the common areas. The two men were arrested.
The death penalty or 104 years of detention
The trial of the young Frenchman “opened Monday morning” before the Criminal Court of Alor Setar (Northwest), said his lawyer from Malaysia Collin Andrew to the AFP. The trial that must last until Thursday was suspended at the end of the morning and must resume on Tuesday “because a witness had not brought certain elements,” said his lawyer. “The trial will resume tomorrow (Tuesday, editor’s note), with the same witness,” he added.
Tom Felix faces “the death penalty, or 104 years of accumulated detention, 54 sticks and a fine of 27,000 euros,” said his mother, a teacher of the French high school in Singapore as well as her husband.
The young man’s parents were received on May 30 by Emmanuel Macron, then on an official visit to Singapore. “He listened to us and said that this situation is really unacceptable and that he was going to put everything in his place so that Tom was released,” Felix said after the interview with the French president.
“I have no doubt about the innocence of Tom, who lives a terrible experience, that fights with a system that was moving men and for what he does not count,” his French lawyer reacted François Zimeray, a former human rights ambassador.
His family says that, during the investigation, Tom was “exonerated” by his partner, but that the Malaysian police did not take it into account. His family and lawyer also denounce “terrible” detention conditions.
Source: BFM TV
