TAIPING: Five wardens from the Taiping Prison claimed trial at a Magistrate’s Court here to voluntarily causing injuries to three different inmates in January last year.
Mohd Hairie Jumri, 40, Saiful Azman Mohamad Ibrahim,44, Ahmad Rizal Razali, 37, Muhamad Mustakhim Abdul Rahim,40, and Nor Hafiz Izwan Muhammad Jajam,31 pleaded not guilty to the charges at two separate Magistrate’s Courts on Friday (July 3).
In the first court, both Mohd Hairie and Saiful Azman were jointly charged under Section 324, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt with common intention using a weapon.
The two are accused of voluntarily causing hurt to inmate P. Jason Immanuel, 25, using a baton at Hall B of the prison between 3pm and 4pm on Jan 17.
If convicted, they face up to 10 years' imprisonment, a fine, whipping, or any two of the punishments.
Ahmad Rizal was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code for intentionally causing hurt to inmate V. Naveen Kumar, 32, outside of Hall B of the prison between 3pm and 4.15pm on the same date.
Upon conviction, the offence carries a jail term of up to one year, a fine of up to RM2,000, or both.
All three were represented by counsel Aqmarul Aqil Ismail, while DPP Farihah Adilah Fazial prosecuted.
Farihah requested for RM10,000 bail, and also asked the court to impose additional conditions requiring the accused to stay away from the victims.
Aqmarul requested for a lower bail, stating that Mohd Hairie, a prison inspector, is married with four schoolgoing children, staying at the prison’s quarters, and earned RM4,000 monthly.
He said Saiful Azman was also married with four schoolgoing children, while Ahmad Rizal, married with three children, is suffering from major depressive disorder and still receiving treatment at a hospital.
Magistrate R. Prabakaran set bail at RM4,000 each with two sureties for both Mohd Hairie and Saiful Azman, while Ahmad Rizal was allowed a RM3,000 bail in two sureties.
He also requested Mohd Hairie and Saiful Azman to report to the nearest police station monthly until the case is over.
He set Sept 7 as the next mention date.
In a separate Magistrate’s Court, two other wardens Muhamad Mustakhim Abdul Rahim,40 and Nor Hafiz Izwan Muhammad Jajam, 31 were also jointly charged under Section 323 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.
Both the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing injury to inmate G. Yugarajan, 30, outside of Hall B of the prison between 3pm and 4pm.
The offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with a maximum fine of RM2,000, or both.
Mohd Mustakhim’s lawyer Amirul Fairuzzeen Jamaluddin said his client had a wife, three children and an aged father to look after.
Counsel Aqmarul Aqil who represented Nor Hafiz Izwan said his client had two children, stayed in the prison’s quarters, and earned RM2,900.
Magistrate Ahmad Hamdi Mustafar set bail at RM2,000 each with one surety.
He set Sept 8 as the next mention date.
All five accused posted bail.
On May 25 this year, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) public inquiry panel released its final findings on the Jan 17, 2025, Taiping Prison riot, which resulted in an elderly inmate’s death.
Suhakam called for immediate disciplinary action against the Taiping Prison officers involved in last year's violence, rejecting claims that such action would amount to "double jeopardy".
The commission stressed that a zero-tolerance policy must be enforced against any misconduct, abuse of power or violation of the law within the service.
