PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal was told that no eyewitness testified that the teenage appellant set the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz Centre that caused the death of 23 people six years ago.
Lawyer Haijan Omar, representing the teenager, said the prosecution only relied on circumstantial evidence to support the case.
“The prosecution relied on the circumstantial evidence provided by the 68th and 69th witnesses, who claimed that they saw the appellant climb the fence to the tahfiz centre, and on the discovery of the lighter,” he said.
The lawyer said his client has offered his alibi, stating that he was not inside the tahfiz centre when the fire broke out, but was sitting on the stairs before going home.
“The statement on the alibi was not even investigated by the investigating officer. I humbly submit that the murder conviction is unsafe and that the court has the power to relook into this matter and allow the appeal,” he said.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor How May Ling submitted that the 68th and 69th prosecution witnesses were eyewitnesses to when the appellant climbed the fence to the tahfiz centre.
“The witnesses can identify the appellant by looking at his clothes. When he made the climb, the street was lit. The high court ruled that the identification made by the witnesses was safe and reliable,” she said.
The prosecution also filed an appeal against the high court’s decision to acquit and discharge another teenager of the murder charge without calling him to enter his defence.
The court’s three-member bench led by Datuk Abu Bakar Jais then fixed May 11 for both parties to continue their submissions.
The two other judges were Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk See Mee Chun.
The teenager, now 22 years old, is appealing against the high court’s decision on August 17, 2020, which ordered him to be held in prison at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after being found guilty of murdering 23 people in a fire at the tahfiz centre.
He was 16 years old when the offence was committed.
According to the amended charge, the teenager, together with another unidentified individual, was charged with murdering and causing the deaths of 23 people staying at the tahfiz centre at Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju here, between 4.15am and 6.45am on September 14, 2017.
He was charged with 23 counts of murder, each framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code and read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
However, Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 states that a death sentence shall not be pronounced or recorded against a person convicted of an offence if the child is under the age of 18, and in lieu of the death sentence, as provided under Section 97 (2) of the same law, the court shall order the person to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. – Bernama, March 9, 2023
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