MELBOURNE, Nov 11 — An Indonesian-born Sydney businessman who murdered his wife's Malaysian lover in a so-called honour killing has lost an appeal against his conviction.
The Australian Associated Press (AAP) reports the Court of Criminal Appeal in Sydney dismissed Hazairin Iskandar's argument that he lost a "real opportunity of acquittal" over the murder of Malacca-born Mohd Shah Saemin in February 2010 because the trial judge erred in his directions to the jury.
Hazairin, 59, was jailed for at least 17 years last December after he was found guilty of murder.
Shah Saemin died after he was attacked by Hazairin and his son, Andrew, outside his Leichhardt flat in Sydney's inner west on February 21, 2010.
Hazairin stabbed Shah Saemin at least four times with a knife, while his son struck him repeatedly with a hammer.
The trial heard Saemin Shah, a driver at the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney had been having an affair with Hazairin's wife, Nita, and Hazairin felt the affair had brought shame on the family among the Indonesian community.
Hazairin pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but not guilty to murder on the grounds of provocation.
AAP said in an appeal hearing last September, lawyers for Hazairin argued the trial judge failed to adequately instruct the jury on how they should treat Hazairin's evidence.
In a judgment handed down last Friday in the Court of Criminal Appeal, the three judge panel rejected this argument and dismissed the appeal.
Last month, 23-year-old Andrew Iskandar had a minor win in his appeal against the severity of his minimum 18-year sentence.
It was cut by just three months after the appeal judges found the trial judge had failed to backdate it to the time he was arrested. — Bernama
