KUALA TERENGGANU: A Rohingya man who previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of his countryman seven years ago changed his plea to not guilty in the High Court here on Thursday (Aug 8).
Mohamad Qarim Abdul Razak, 42, changed his plea after the optional charge under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code was read to him in Myanmar by an interpreter before Judge Hassan Abdul Ghani.
As soon as the accused changed his plea, the court adjourned the proceedings for over an hour and both the prosecution and the defence were seen trying to communicate with Mohamad Qarim.
After the trial resumed, the judge allowed the request of lawyer Mazlan Md Zain from the National Legal Aid Foundation, who represented the accused, to have the original charge read out by an interpreter to Mohamad Qarim.
In the proceeding on July 29, Mohamad Qarim pleaded guilty to causing the death of Abdul Khalid Abdul Hadir at Jalan Pak Madah, Bukit Payung, Marang, at 11.20pm on March 18, 2017, along with three of his friends who had been sentenced and today's proceedings were scheduled by Hassan previously as the date of remention for the facts and sentence.
According to the original charge, he was charged with murder by causing the death of the victim under Section 302 of the Penal Code which provides for the death penalty if convicted, but Mohamad Qarim still pleaded not guilty.
Accordingly, Mazlan applied to withdraw from the case hearing due to health factors before the matter was allowed by the Judge.
"Because the accused chose not to plead guilty in accordance with Section 302 of the Penal Code, I request to be released from representing the accused due to health factors.
"I request the court to appoint a new lawyer and all related documents have been submitted to the prosecution," he said.
The prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutor Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah and Mohd Khairuddin Idris and the Court fixed Oct 7 for the case to be mentioned again. - Bernama
