“Our son risks the death penalty”: imprisoned for over a year in Malaysia, his parents launch an appeal for help

Le français est incarcéré depuis plus d’un an. Illustration EPA – AHMAD YUSNI

Tom Felix was imprisoned in Malaysia in August 2023. A country where drug possession is punishable by death. However, the drugs found by the police in the Frenchman's apartment belonged to his roommate, who claimed to be the sole owner. Since then, the two men have remained imprisoned.

Tom Felix, 33, has been detained in Perlis Prison in Malaysia for over a year now. The young man was arrested on August 9, 2023, when local police found cannabis in several common areas of his apartment in Langkawi, in the north of the country. Except that Tom Felix lived with Daniel, his roommate and the latter's girlfriend, and the drugs found were his roommate's.

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“This is the beginning of a descent into hell”

Tom Felix claims his innocence and his roommate had declared from the beginning of his hearing to be the sole holder of the drugs found. “I wasn't worried since it had nothing to do with me. It would make an anecdote to tell, the time I spent 48 hours in prison in Malaise. Instead of 'a simple anecdote is the beginning of a descent into hell',says Tom Félix in an interview with 66Minutes, broadcast this Sunday, December 15, in video and taken up by Le Parisien.

The young man's parents explained that they had recovered his phone, where no discussions, banking transactions, messages or contacts were suspicious.“There is no evidence to accuse,” they stated in August to France Blue.

Hellish detention conditions

According to the report broadcast on M6, Tom Félix sleeps on a yoga mat with Turkish toilets with no privacy and a simple hose to wash. The cells are said to be shared by 20 to 40 inmates, without ventilation.

The young man's family explained that “the President of the Republic is mobilized” and hopes to send a letter of representation. This letter could allow the charges against him to be dropped. An important decision, especially since in Malaysia, drug trafficking is punishable by the death penalty, but not automatically. “We must not forget that our son risks the death penalty,” reminds his mother.

In France, where he studied in La Rochelle, a mural was created in his honor and on Facebook, his friends created a support page to relay the case. His trial is scheduled for June 2025.