KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Six students of Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) escaped the gallows but were sentenced to 18-year jail by the High Court here today after they were found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of UPNM cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain four years ago.
They are Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat, Mohamad Shobirin Sabri and Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali.
Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah also ordered them to serve the sentence from the date of their arrests on June 1, 2017.
Of the six accused, five were charged with murder of Zulfarhan Osman under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction, while Abdoul Hakeem was charged with abetting the murder under Section 109 of the same act, which carries a similar sentence.
The judge, in his decision, however, said that the court found that all of the accused guilty under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code of causing injuries to the deceased (Zulfarhan Osman) with no intent of murder, which carries imprisonment for a term of up to 30 years, and shall also liable to fine, upon conviction.
The court also sentenced five of the accused, except Mohamad Shobirin, and their 12 friends after finding them guilty of injuring Zulfarhan Osman. Mohamad Shobirin was previously charged with the same offence but was acquitted of the charge at the end of the prosecution’s case.
The 12 others are Mohd Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Mohamad Lukhmanul Hakim Mohd Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri, Muhammad Sufi Mohd Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah, Muhammad Danial Firdaus Azmir, Muhammad Hasif, Muhammad Adib Iman and Mohamad Syazwan.
They were found guilty of deliberately injuring the victim to coerce a confession from him that he had stolen a laptop, as charged under Section 330 of the Penal Code.
Justice Azman ordered the sentence for Muhammad Akmal, Muhammad Azamuddin, Muhammad Najib, Muhammad Afif dan Abdoul Hakeem for both the culpable homicide and injuring charges to run concurrently.
“Meanwhile, for the other 12 accused, the court hereby sentences them to three years’ jail starting today,” he said.
The judge, however, allowed a stay of execution of the jail sentence for the 12 accused pending appeal.
— Bernama
