A Malaysian court has sentenced an Indonesian man to death by hanging for trafficking cannabis, local media said Saturday.

Mardani Hussin, 29, a labourer from Aceh province, Indonesia, had entered Malaysia without a valid permit in April 2002 and committed the offence six months later, the national Bernama news agency said.

"Many of your fellow countrymen came here to earn a proper living," High Court judge Abdull Hamid Embong was quoted as telling him. "I am sure they are ashamed of your act."

Mardani was charged with trafficking 927 grammes (32.5 ounces) of cannabis in the capital on October 22, 2002. He was riding on a motorcycle when he was stopped by police who searched him and seized a parcel with the drug.

Drug-trafficking in Malaysia carries a mandatory death penalty, and the country has executed 229 people for the offence in the past 30 years.