SEREMBAN, July 17 — Five men, including a police officer, escaped the gallows after they were acquitted and discharged by High Court here today over the murder of a man four years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin freed all the accused — police officer S. Selva Kumar, 42, N. Sureshkannah, 39, N. Thanabalan, 32, [email protected] (Veeramuthu a/l Raju@Sadam), 53, and N. Rajasakanan, 40, without calling them to enter their defence after finding that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
They were charged with having a common intention to kill the 31-year-old man on a hill at a landfill site in Jalan Labu here between 9pm on February 11, 2015, and 6am the following day.
They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death penalty.
In his judgement, Muhammad Jamil said after maximum consideration, the court found that there were no statements that can link the second to fifth accused with the offence.
“The prosecution failed to prove the common intention and the prima facie case against the second to fifth accused. They are hereby acquitted and discharged without their defence called,” he said.
Muhammad Jamil also said that the prosecution had also failed to establish a prima facie case against the first accused, Selva Kumar.
“It is unsafe for me to call the first accused to enter defence and I am also not prepared to convict him. Therefore, he is freed without having to enter his defence,” he said.
The trial of the case began early this year with 16 prosecution witnesses called to testify.
Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin prosecuted, while the first accused was represented by lawyer Datuk Michael KL Chee.
Counsel M.Haresh represented Sureshkannah and Thanabalan, while Paul Seladurai acted for Veeramuthu and Rajasakanan. — Bernama
