JOHOR BARU: Two men were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here of a murder that took place at a petrol station in Taman Pelangi eight years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Kan Weng Hin ordered the release of Tee Sie Hou, 27, and Koh Sing Wei, 28, after declining the prosecution’s request to grant a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
In her argument, deputy public prosecutor Juliana Jaafar stated that the investigation into the case was still ongoing.
“The prosecution has decided not to proceed and will withdraw the charges against the accused. Since the case is still under investigation, we request that the court order a DNAA as we still need the suspects to be available for any future developments in the case,” she said.
However, Datin Freda Sabapathy, who represented Koh, argued that the prosecution had no evidence against her client despite years of investigation.
Freda, who appeared alongside lawyer K. Sarawana Kumar, said it would be unfair and unjust to leave the charges hanging over the accused’s head.
She noted that Koh was among 23 people arrested on Dec 18, 2017, in connection with the murder of Tan Aik Chai, 44, at a petrol station along Jalan Sri Pelangi in Taman Pelangi.
“He was released after 14 days of investigation, and no charges were brought against him.
“Out of the 23 suspects, only three were charged in court, and a full trial proceeded with 23 witnesses called,” she said, adding that Koh was later re-arrested and charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Chuah Shyue Chien, who represented Tee alongside Kenji Soh Xin Da, said their client was arrested and charged for the same offence in September 2021.
After listening to the arguments, JC Kan ruled that the two accused be acquitted and discharged.
“The incident happened in 2017 and after eight years, they still could not obtain sufficient evidence. If there was no evidence, why were charges brought forward in the first place?” he said before delivering his judgment.
On Sept 6, 2020, three other men accused of the same murder were also acquitted and discharged by the High Court after a full trial involving 23 witnesses.
