Apex court affirms teen’s conviction for murder of 23 in tahfiz arson
Published on: Thursday, March 21, 2024
By:
FMT, V Anbalagan
The Federal Court has affirmed the conviction and sentence of a teenager, now 22, who will be detained at the pleasure of the King for a fire at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah seven years ago.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has unanimously affirmed the conviction and sentence meted out on a teenager for murdering 23 people in a fire at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah nearly seven years ago.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led a three-member bench said the conviction by the trial judge was safe based on a totality of the evidence presented.
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“We therefore affirm the conviction and sentence of the High Court which was upheld by the Court of Appeal,” said the top judge in dismissing the appeal.
Also on the bench hearing the final appeal were Justices Hasnah Hashim and Nordin Hassan.
On Aug 17, 2020, Justice Azman Abdullah, who now sits in the Court of Appeal, ordered the appellant (identified in the proceedings as “PKK1”), now aged 22, to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Tengku Maimun said the trial judge was entitled to make his findings based on the credibility of two child witnesses, identified as SP68 and SP69, who testified at the trial.
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“The trial judge had also made a finding that the circumstantial evidence (adduced at the trial) is sufficient to convict the appellant,” she said, adding that there is no compelling reason to disturb the findings.
In his decision, Azman said he found that PKK1 had intentionally committed mischief which had led to the deaths.
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The appellant had contended that the circumstantial evidence adduced was not strong enough to convict him and that a notice of alibi had also raised a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.
However, Tengku Maimun dismissed the appellant’s contentions, saying that the trial judge was entitled to rely on the evidence of SP68 and SP69, both of whom showed no ill motive.
Last October, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by the prosecution for a second teenager, identified as PKK2 – who was acquitted at the close of the prosecution’s case – to be ordered to enter his defence. The prosecution did not appeal the ruling.
The duo, both aged 16 at the date of the incident and another unidentified individual, were charged with committing the offence at the tahfiz school hostel between 4.15am and 6.45am on Sept 14, 2017.
Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah is located in Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju, in Kuala Lumpur.
The prosecution’s case was that the two accused and the unidentified person jumped over the hostel’s fence and set fire to a dormitory using petrol and two gas cylinders, each weighing 28kg.
Lawyer Haijan Omar today submitted that there was no evidence showing PKK1 carrying a bottle of petrol.
“There were no traces of petrol at the crime scene. There is a material gap in the prosecution’s case and their circumstantial evidence is weak,” said Haijan, who was assisted by Asyraaf Abu Bakar.
Haijan also said his client’s alibi was never investigated by the police.
He said, PKK1, a school dropout, only went near the school to smoke ganja and that he was not capable of committing a sophisticated crime of such nature.
He also said no motive had been established for the crime and there was no evidence to prove it was premeditated.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling submitted that there was strong and irresistible circumstantial evidence to prove the prosecution’s case.
“SP68 saw the appellant climbing over the fence of the school hostel,” she said.
She also said SP69 had seen PKK1 at a nearby location earlier, between 2.30am and 3am.
“SP68 and SP69 identified PKK1 and they knew his mannerisms,” she said, adding that the witnesses and the appellant knew each other well.
How, who was assisted by DPPs Parvin Hameedah Natchiar and Aida Khairuleen Azli, said SP68 and S69 had no motive to frame PKK1.
She said SP69 had also heard PKK1 asking another person (SP70): “Man, when is the school going to be set on fire?”
Man replied: “Buy petrol first lah.”
“Though no one saw who started the fire, the conversation had probative value,” Tengku Maimun said, adding that PKK1 had also led police to discover a lighter that was said to have been used to start the fire.
In the Court of Appeal previously, Che Ruzima Ghazali had said that the trial judge had carefully scrutinised CCTV footage from a snooker centre, a petrol kiosk, the premises of the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia, and the tahfiz school itself, and had gone to the crime scene in the course of the trial.
Che Ruzima also noted that the four other witnesses called by the defence were all interested parties in the case.
He said the evidence of one witness, classified as an accomplice, was treated with caution.
Che Ruzima also said the defence put up by PKK1 was a bare denial.
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