KUCHING, Dec 30 — Five local men were charged in the Magistrates’ Court here today with the murder of a 22-year-old man in an apartment unit at Jalan Sungai Tapang last December.

However, only two of the accused appeared in the court for mention. 

The court subsequently issued arrest warrants against the three other men and ordered that the warrants be returned on February 16, 2026.

The two accused nodded to indicate they understood the charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, when it was read out before Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan.

Section 302 carries the death penalty or imprisonment for a term of between 30 and 40 years and, if not sentenced to death, whipping of not fewer than 12 strokes upon conviction.

No plea was recorded as the offence falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court. Bail was also denied as murder is a non-bailable offence.

The court fixed February 16, 2026 for further mention of the case, pending the post-mortem report.

According to the charge, the accused, together with several others allegedly murdered Francis Chang Ze at the apartment on December 1, 2024, at about 4.30am.

Deputy public prosecutors Chuah Kai Sheng and Ahmad Fauzulutfi Suriani appeared for the prosecution, while the two accused were unrepresented.

Previous media reports stated that police received a report regarding an altercation at the premises and later found the victim fatally slashed inside one of the apartment’s rooms. — The Borneo Post