PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the 30-year prison sentence imposed on a former People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) member for killing his best friend in 2021.
A three-judge panel comprising Justices Datuk Hashim Hamzah, Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril dismissed Ong Chow Lee’s appeal against both his conviction and sentence.
The court’s grounds of judgment dated Aug 27, uploaded on the judiciary’s website, stated that it also upheld Ong’s 13-year jail term for attempting to kill the nephew of the deceased.
Both sentences are to run concurrently.
The two offences were committed behind a Chinese temple in Taman Raya Wakaf Tapai, Marang, between 1.20pm and 1.55pm on July 23, 2021.
News reports said the deceased, Fong Swee Fuan, 65, was a former Marang MCA division chief.
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According to the facts of the case, Ong, 61, had opened fire after a dispute, killing Fong and injuring his 48-year-old nephew, who was hit in the left hand.
Ong pleaded guilty to both charges at the Kuala Terengganu High Court in July last year and was sentenced to 30 and 13 years' imprisonment, respectively, to run concurrently from the date of his arrest on July 23, 2021.
in his appeal, Ong sought to have his case sent back to the High Court for a retrial, claiming that he was misled by his former lawyer into pleading guilty, believing he would receive only a 15-year sentence.
However, the minimum sentence for murder is 30 years.
Ong also claimed he was illiterate and that the court should have provided a Mandarin interpreter during the earlier proceedings.
He also alleged that he did not fully understand the consequences of his guilty plea owing to the language barrier.
In the grounds of judgment, Justice Hashim ruled that the issues raised by Ong were baseless.
He said the High Court judge had confirmed with Ong and his lawyer that Ong understood Bahasa Malaysia.
He also said that based on the evidence, there was no indication that Ong did not understand the nature and consequences of his guilty plea.
The court also found that Ong had admitted to the facts of the case, identified the prosecution's exhibits, and was represented by three lawyers during the plea recording.
"We unanimously find this appeal is without merit, and the conviction (against the appellant) is safe. The prison sentence imposed is also the minimum prescribed by law,” Justice Hashim said. – Bernama
