KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — The seventh accused in the murder of deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais told the High Court here today that Datuk N. Sivananthan, who is the lawyer for first accused Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, had asked him to plead guilty to the charge.

S. Ravi Chandaran, 47, who is the sixth defence witness, said the lawyer also promised to defend and free him of the charge at the Court of Appeal, if he were to do so.

“Datuk Sivananthan asked me to plead guilty (to the charge) under Section 302 of the Penal Code. (After that) he will defend and get me out of prison,” he said when cross-examined by lawyer Jasmine Cheong Chi May, who is also representing Dr Kunaseegaran in the defence trial, which is now in its 23rd day.

To another question by Cheong whether he knew that an accused charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code is not allowed to plead guilty, Ravi Chandaran said he did not know about it.

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In a proceeding prior to this, Ravi Chandaran had told the court that he was offered RM1.5 million by  Dr Kunaseegaran to plead guilty to murdering Kevin Morais.

He had also said that the doctor would appoint another lawyer to represent him (Ravi Chandaran) during his appeal at the Court of Appeal.

R. Dinishwaran, A.K Thinesh Kumar, M. Vishwanath; S. Nimalan, Ravi Chandaran, and Dr Kunaseegaran had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Kevin Morais  during the journey from Jalan Dutamas 1, Sentul, to No.1 Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015.

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They are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 34 of the same code, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Dinishwaran, 26, Thinesh Kumar, 25, Vishwanath; 28, Nimalan, 25, and Ravi Chandaran, are represented by Rajehgopal.

The prosecution is led by deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin.

The hearing before Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah continues tomorrow. —  Bernama