PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has upheld the acquittal of Samirah Muzaffar and two teenagers who were accused of the murder of former Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Court of Appeal president Justice Abu Bakar Jais, dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the acquittal on the grounds that there was no reason to interfere with the findings of the lower courts.
"After going through the written grounds of judgment by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, we find no errors by the courts in the respondents' acquittal.
"Based on the written and oral submissions by parties, we find there is no prima facie proven at the end of the prosecution's case.
"The prosecution had also failed to prove common intention that could cause the death of the victim," Justice Abu Bakar said in the unanimous decision.
Other judges on the panel were Federal Court judges Justices Rhodzariah Bujang and Nordin Hassan.
On Feb 8, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to acquit and discharge Samirah and the two teenagers of the murder charge.
The High Court, on June 21, 2022, ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case and acquitted them without ordering them to enter a defence.
Samirah, 50, who is Nazrin’s widow, along with the two teenagers and an Indonesian woman, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, were charged with killing Nazrin, 45, at his house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4am the following day.
In upholding the accused's acquittal, the Court of Appeal held that there was insufficient evidence to establish the accused's guilt.
The Court of Appeal also ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the fire was deliberately started as there was contradicting evidence from the Chemical Department of Malaysia and the Fire and Rescue Department’s investigators.
The Court of Appeal held that the testimony surrounding the petrol and the analysis done on it were not using certified methods, and the investigators had skipped crucial steps needed for the study of the petrol.
More to come
