PUTRAJAYA, March 11 — The Federal Court five-man panel today acquitted and discharged a South African technician from charges of trafficking seven rifles and possession of 1,305 rounds of ammunition aboard a yacht in Langkawi almost six years ago.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim who chaired the panel, set aside the decision of the appellate court in October 2018 which convicted and sentenced Julius Christo Katzke to jail for the two charges.

Katzke, 52, was sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking the rifles and four years’ jail for possessing the ammunition by the Court of Appeal.

In his decision today, Justice Abang Iskandar, among others, held that the failure of the prosecution to call material witnesses including Katzke’s Thai national girlfriend and the captain of the yacht might result in the prosecution not able to exclude their access to the firearms and ammunition.

He reinstated the May 30, 2018 decision of the Alor Setar High Court that acquitted and discharged Katzke from both charges.

The Court of Appeal had overturned Katzke’s acquittal after allowing the prosecution’s appeal.

Katzke, a technician specialising in automatic identification systems for ships, was charged with trafficking the Benelli Argo E rifles and possession of the ammunition in the yacht named Mischief which berthed at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Kuah, Langkawi, Kedah at 12.30pm on September 18, 2014.

He was arrested on the same day and has been in custody since then.

The other judges on the panel today were Federal Court judges Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Datuk Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.

Katzke was represented by lawyers Datuk N. Sivananthan and Grace S. Nathan, while deputy public prosecutor Datuk Nazran Mohd Sham appeared for the prosecution. — Bernama