Courts | Coutinho brothers’ sentence upheld by TUI

The court of Final Appeal (TUI) has confirmed the previous court ruling that sentenced lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho’s two sons, aged 31 and 27, to imprisonment for eight years and six-months for drug trafficking, the Office of the President of the TUI said in a statement yesterday.

In a case dating back to December 2016, both brothers were accused of shipping and receiving a package containing one kilogram of cannabis, valued at MOP500,000, from Canada to Macau by express courier.

The TUI upheld the sentence issued by the First Instance Court in mid-October last year, following an appeal to the Court of Second Instance in January this year. The TUI has refused the appeal by the defendants’ lawyer, Francisco Leitão, who argued that there were several procedural flaws regarding the evidence, which was a package initially received by authorities in Hong Kong, and that the penalty issued was “harsh” and “excessive”.

In the ruling, the court rejects all allegations, replying that according to the Macau Penal Code, drug trafficking attracts a sentence between three to fifteen years of imprisonment.  For that reason, TUI considered the sentence of eight years and six months to be adequate, especially as there were no mitigating circumstances that could contribute to a reduced penalty, with the exception of one of the defendants being a first-time offender.

The court justified the decision as being correct based on credible witness testimony, documented proof, and apprehended objects that together constitute incriminating evidence. The evidence also included phone conversations and messages exchanged between the two defendants.
The TUI noted the clear intention to commit the unlawful act and the seriousness of the crime, remarking that the “crime of drug trafficking is frequent in Macau and jeopardizes both public health and social peace.”

In a discussion of the final sentence, the court also made reference to the fact that the defendants did not confess their guilt and instead remained silent during the trial. RM