PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal allowed a Rohingya man’s appeal against a murder conviction, sentencing him instead to 16 years’ imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
A three-member bench, led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, set aside the High Court’s decision of May 21, 2024, which had convicted Mohammad Alam Mohammad Zakaria of murder and imposed a sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.
Justice Azman ruled that the prosecution had only succeeded in proving the offence under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code.
Accordingly, the court convicted Mohammad Alam of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and imposed a 16-year prison sentence, running from the date of his arrest on Aug 30, 2020.
According to the statement of the facts, Mohammad Alam, 31, from Myanmar, had invited a friend to have a meal at the workers’ quarters.
The deceased, Abu Taher, 35, however, stopped the friend from entering and reprimanded the accused for bringing an outsider.
A prosecution witness testified that the accused and the deceased had argued outside for approximately 15 to 20 minutes before the deceased collapsed and was found bleeding.
In yesterday’s proceedings, Mohammad Alam’s counsel, Sukhaimi Mashud, submitted that the incident constituted a sudden fight, Bernama reported.
He argued that his client had no prior intention to kill and had acted in self-defence, noting that the knife in question had been held by the deceased.
He contended that the appropriate charge should therefore have been culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
