Former IT officer ordered to enter defence on murder charge over death of road rage victim

SHAH ALAM: The High Court here on Thursday (July 20) ordered a former Information Technology (IT) officer to enter his defence on a charge of killing Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir in a road rage incident on the North-South Expressway (PLUS) southbound four years ago.

Judge Julia Ibrahim made the decision after finding that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against Yew Wei Liang, 45, at the end of the prosecution's case.

"She said that after examining the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and the exhibits presented, the court found that Yew had not discharged the burden of proof on the defence.

"Evidence shows that the provocation was initiated by the accused himself when he attacked the deceased at the scene. Regarding the right to self-defence, the court found that the accused had acted beyond the right of self-defence by continuing to ram into the deceased, even though the threat had been broken and the deceased had fled.

"The court also found that the prosecution had succeeded in proving all the elements of prima facie against the accused. Therefore, the accused is ordered to defend himself against the charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code," said the judge and set two days, from Aug 16, for the defence trial.

Earlier, Julia told Yew that he had three options to defend himself, which were to either remain silent and not answer the charge; testify from the dock without being cross-examined by the prosecution; or testify from the dock without being examined by the prosecution, or to testify under oath from the witness stand and being questioned by the prosecution during cross-examination.

Yew, who appeared calm throughout the proceedings, told the court that he needed to discuss the matter with his lawyer first before giving his answer.

A total of 20 prosecution witnesses testified at the trial which began on Oct 27, 2021.

On Aug 22, 2019, Yew was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with murdering Syed Muhammad Danial at the KM293.6 of the North-South Expressway (Kuala Lumpur-Seremban) between 1pm and 2pm on Aug 10, 2019.

Deputy public prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin prosecuted, while Yew was represented by lawyer Wee Choo Keong. - Bernama