A human rights campaigner says the court ruling for Sydney mother Maria Exposto has no precedence in Malaysia and will be used by lawyers as reference in future drug cases.
A human rights campaigner says she is surprised Sydney mother Maria Exposto was cleared of smuggling crystal methamphetamine.
Ms Exposto, 54, was found not guilty of drug trafficking by a Malaysia High Court judge after she faced the death penalty.
She was found with more than a kilogram of methamphetamine in her bag after arriving in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from China in 2014.
Ms Exposto faced the death penalty if convicted but the Malaysian High Court judge found she did not have knowledge of the drugs in her bag.
The judge on Wednesday found an online boyfriend had scammed her and she was acquitted of the charges against her, media reports said.
The prosecution agreed after the verdict the mother-of-four could be deported to Australia.
Australian defendant Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto reacts inside a lift as she is escorted by Malaysia Customs officer
'Surprising'
Gwen Lee, from Amnesty International Malaysia, said the ruling was "quite surprising".
"We thought she would be sentenced to death, it's good news," she told ABC Radio National.
"At least she is spared for now. Let’s see how long it will take the prosecutor to appeal."
Ms Exposto's lawyers have previously said the Australian mum fell victim to an Internet romance scam and she believed she was in Shanghai to lodge documents for her online boyfriend's retirement from service in the US army.
She claimed she was handed the black backpack at the last minute and thought there were only clothes inside.
Customs officials noticed an item inside that appeared "green" during scans of Ms Exposto's belongings at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Upon closer inspection, they found odd pink and brown stitching at the back of the backpack.
When they opened the stitching grey packages were inside, customs official Mohd Noor Nashariq told the Shah Alam High Court last year.
Amended laws
Malaysia has amended laws that no longer bind judges to hand down mandatory death sentences for drug mules, a move Ms Lee said contributed to the ruling.
"Malaysia has had an amendment in the last month that the law looks like it's a little relaxed, but the amendment to the Dangerous Drug Act is actually really little because the judge can choose between death and a life sentence," Ms Lee said.
"This case was one that lawyers would use a reference when they're in a court.
"It is not something very common, but here and there we hear the good news."
Ms Lee said there were more than 1000 death row inmates in Malaysia and that 2017 saw "very minimal" pardons.
"It is not easy to have success, it is not something very common, but here and there we hear the good news," she said.
There have been 15 executions in Malaysia since 2014, a small number according to Ms Lee, who said the long court process contributed to this low number.
"When a person finishes the court process, which is you go through the High Court, the Court of Appeal and then the Federal Court. After the Federal Court you go into the clemency process, which you seek clemency from the king," she said.
"So when you're in the clemency process you're not going to be executed. The clemency process can take quite a few years. It can take up to 10 years."
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