Six on death row file notice of appeal

KUALA LUMPUR: Pathologist Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran and five men are appealing against their conviction and death sentence for murdering deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais five years ago.

The six appellants filed a notice of appeal through their lawyers at the Criminal High Court Registry here yesterday.

They are 57-year-old Dr Kunaseegaran, money lender S. Ravi Chandaran, 49, and four unemployed men – R. Dinishwaran, 28, AK Thinesh Kumar, 27, M. Vishwanath, 30, and S. Nimalan, 27.

Lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan represented Dr Kunaseegaran while Datuk Sheelan Arjunan appeared for the five.

Based on the notice, they filed the appeal to the Court of Appeal after disagreeing with the conviction and death sentence handed down by High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah last Friday.

Sivananthan said the notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal on behalf of Dr Kunaseegaran was filed at the High Court and after the defence received the records of appeal, they would file the petition of appeal with the Court of Appeal.

Azman found Dr Kunaseegaran and the other five men guilty on the murder charge and held that all the six men had common intention to kill 55-year-old Morais.

They were charged with murdering Morais somewhere along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4,2015, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.Morais was reported missing on Sept 4,2015, and was last seen leaving his condominium at Menara Duta here in his Proton Perdana to go to his office at the Attorney General’s Chambers in Putrajaya.

CCTV footage showed that Morais was grabbed by several men when he came out of his car to inspect the damage following a fender bender along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and taken to No.1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya, the same day.

On Sept 5, a Proton Perdana (Honda Accord rebadge) was found burnt at an oil palm plantation in Kampung Sungai Samak, Hutan Melintang Perak – the same car that was driven by Morais which was reported missing.

Morais’s body was later found in a concrete-filled drum at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, on Sept 16,2015. — Bernama