Three acquitted, two others spared gallows
PUTRAJAYA: The army pathologist convicted of killing Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais will hang.
The Federal Court has upheld the conviction of Col Dr R. Kunaseegaran and his death sentence also stays as he withdrew his appeal against it.
A three-judge panel chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat also unanimously upheld the conviction of moneylender S. Ravi Chandran, 54, and S. Nimalan, 32, but spared their lives.
Nimalan was instead sentenced to 35 years in jail with 12 strokes of the rotan while moneylender Ravi Chandran, was given 40 years in prison but spared whipping due to his age.
However, another three men sentenced to death over the murder were acquitted.
All six had earlier been found guilty of the murder of Morais who was found in a concrete-filled drum at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, on Sept 16, 2015.
In the broad judgment read by Court of Appeal president Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, he said the court had considered the defence of the first three and found it had not created doubt in the prosecution’s case.
At the same time, the court acquitted R. Dinishwaran, 33; AK Thinesh Kumar, 32; and M. Vishwanath, 35, after finding insufficient evidence to convict them in the 2015 murder.
Abang Iskandar said Dinishwaran, Thinesh Kumar and Vishwanath should have been acquitted without being ordered to enter their defence.
“We allow their appeals and hereby set aside their conviction for murder,” he added.
The other judge on the panel was Federal Court judge Justice Rhodzariah Bujang.
During mitigation for sentencing, Kunaseegaran’s lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan informed the court that he had been instructed to withdraw his appeal against the death penalty.
Lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represented Nimalan, sought for his client’s death penalty to be commuted to jail time.
He said Nimalan, who was 22 at the time of offence, was a permanent resident in Singapore and had enrolled in the army there.
He had religiously attended classes in prison and Amer said this showed that rehabilitation has been achieved.
“He was a college student and had a promising future. This episode has robbed him of that. I believe every individual should be given a chance to turn over a new leaf,” Amer said.
Lawyer Kitson Foong, who represented Ravi Chandran, also mitigated for prison time on grounds that his client was a first-time offender.
“We pray the death sentence be replaced with prison sentence. I wouldn’t even suggest a number. I leave that to the court,” he added.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Fairuz Johari, meanwhile, urged the court to maintain the death sentence as the crime had been committed against a public servant who was carrying out his duty.
“This case shocked the nation. His death was due to Kunaseegaran’s dissatisfaction towards the deceased who was prosecuting a case against him (Kunaseegaran). The abduction happened in broad daylight and the body was placed in a drum to be disposed of.
“The death sentence must be upheld,” he added.
Kevin’s brother, Datuk Richard Morais, when approached by reporters later, said he had no comment on the case.
“I am the younger brother who buried Kevin,” he said before walking away.
Kunaseegaran and the rest were convicted and sentenced to death by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in July 2020 for the murder of Morais, 55.
The Court of Appeal had upheld the conviction on March 14 last year.
The murder took place at a location along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015.
