Murdered In Detention: 3 Navy Men Charged With The Death And Assault Of 2 Colleagues
Two of the three accused were allowed bail.
By Sadho Ram — 14 Oct 2017, 11:56 AM
On Friday, 13 October, during the hearing of a case involving the murder of two Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) personnel while in detention, the Seri Manjung Magistrate's Court charged three RMN personnel with the death and assault of their two colleagues at the Sungai Wangi detention unit, Sitiawan on 29 September
The three accused were on duty at the detention unit during the time of the incident when the two victims were assaulted
The three accused are 29-year-old Mohd Izhrifikri Roslee, 35-year-old Hamzah Zakaria, and 32-year-old Mohd Farid Musa.
While Mohd Izhrifikri was charged with causing the deaths of both the sailors, Hamzah Zakaria and Mohd Farid Musa charged with voluntarily causing hurt to the deceased.
All three accused hold the rank of senior seaman
In this photo dated 1 October, the three RMN personnel are seen escorted by police officers into the court complex in Seri Manjung.
Image via The Malay Mail Online via BernamaFor the murder charges against Mohd Izhrifikri, who was charged with causing the death of Mohd Baihaqy and Muhammad Lailal Tuiman at the training field of the detention unit between 12.30am and 3.20pm, no plea was recorded.
The charges, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the death sentence upon conviction. The court has set 12 December for mention pending the chemist and post-mortem reports, as well as other documents, reported Malaysiakini.
On the other hand, Hamzah and Mohd Farid Musa pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to their respective charges, which involve Hamzah facing two counts of voluntarily causing hurt on Mohd Baihaqy and Muhammad Lailal Tuiman, and Mohd Farid Musa facing voluntarily one count of voluntarily causing hurt on Mohd Baihaqy.
Hamzah and Mohd Farid Musa were allowed bail
The two accused were allowed bail by Magistrate Nur Shaqira Ibrahim, who set their bail amount at RM4,000 with one surety for each charge under Section 323 of the Penal Code, and set 30 October for the mention of the charges against the both accused.
Meanwhile, in a rare move, the family of Muhammad Lailal Tuiman has requested that the case be heard in the military court
According to a report in NST Online, the family's lawyer, Zalil Mohd Mess, who was conducting a watching brief, told the Magistrate's court that a letter had been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the matter.
"The victim's family wishes for the case to be tried as soon as possible and expressed their hope for what we call swift justice. However, we have yet to receive any reply from the authorities," Zalil said, adding that, "The accused and victims were from the armed forces. Should the request be allowed, it will be heard like any other murder case. The only difference is that the proceedings are done in the martial court."
