Ussain Sahibu Mohammed Jawfer v. The Hon. Attorney General – CA 49/2012-2017

In The Hon. Attorney General, Sri Lanka v. Ussain Sahibu Mohammed Jawfer (3rd Accused Appellant), the court addressed whether the conviction and death sentence imposed on the 3rd Accused Appellant for trafficking and illegal possession of heroin were legally sustainable, considering the sufficiency of evidence for proper identification and the use of co-accused testimony. It was held that the conviction was not legally sustainable as the prosecution failed to establish the identity and involvement of the 3rd Accused Appellant beyond reasonable doubt. The principle reaffirmed is that a conviction cannot stand where critical identification evidence is unreliable and where a co-accused’s testimony lacks corroboration by independent evidence. Reliance was placed on requirements for corroborati