Death sentences of 10 in Sabah set aside
Published on: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Jo Ann Mool
From left: Firman, Vincent, Duis and Hendry.
Kota Kinabalu: The Federal Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentences of 10 individuals who were convicted of murder (seven) and drug trafficking (three).
The three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang allowed nine review applications under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court Act.
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The Apex Court set aside the inmates’ death sentences and substituted them with imprisonment of between 30 and 36 years.
Seven of the prisoners whose death sentences for murder were set aside and commuted were Duis Akim, 49, Hendry Motodud, 43, Vincent Gisup, 42; Firman Fani, 35, Menase Ladang, 36, Musdar Rusli, 47, and Bakri Ruka, 53.
Lan Yi Ling (front), Cheng (centre) and Yu Jing (behind) being escorted to the prison vehicle.
The other three prisoners whose death sentences for drug trafficking were set aside and substituted were female China nationals – Cheng Jinhui, 33, Lan Yi Ling, 35, and Yu Jing, 30.
Their sentences were commuted to 30 years’ jail from their respective date of arrest.
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In the case of Duis, Hendry and Vincent, the Apex Court substituted their death sentences with 30 years’ jail from their date of arrest on June 22, 2001.
“However, the period when they were acquitted by the Court of Appeal is to be excluded i.e. July 10, 2007 until Jan 11, 2012,” held the court in an unanimous decision.
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The trio were also ordered to be given 12 strokes of the cane each.
Duis, Hendry and Vincent were first freed on July 10, 2007 of a joint charge of murdering one Wilfred Thomas, 34, on May 26, 2001, at 2am, at the 7-Eleven store in Donggongon, Penampang.
On Jan 11, 2012, their five years of freedom came to an end when their acquittal was overturned and were sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal.
Their appeal to the Federal Court was dismissed on Oct 18, 2013.
Meanwhile, Firman, an Indonesian who committed double murder saw his death sentence substituted with 30 years’ imprisonment each, to be run concurrently from the date of his arrest on June 16, 2009 and was ordered to be caned 12 times on each charge.
Firman was on Nov 15, 2010 sentenced to death by the High Court here for murdering two Filipinos, one Jasfar Erman, 20, and one Md Mukarim Archedy, 21, at the pedestrian walk near a bus station in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman between 4.30pm and 4.50pm on April 15, 2009.
His appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal on March 22, 2013.
Federal Court dismissed his appeal on Aug 18, 2015.
Menase, meanwhile, saw his death sentence commuted to 32 years’ jail from the date of his arrest on Oct 29, 2014 and was ordered to be given 12 lashes of the cane.
Menase was on Jan 25, 2017 sentenced to death by the High Court here after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, one Hamidah Laka, 29, at 1.30pm on Oct 20, 2014 at a vegetable farm in Mesilou, Kundasang, Ranau.
His appeal against conviction and sentence was rejected by the Court of Appeal on July 16, 2018, while the Federal Court dismissed his appeal on June 26, 2019.
Musdar’s death sentence was substituted with 30 years’ jail from the date of his arrest on May 2, 2012 and was also ordered to be given 12 lashes of the cane.
Musdar, an Indonesian, was on July 19, 2016 sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal for murdering his wife, one Intan Bago, on May 2, 2012, at 6.30pm at a worker house in Kg Arau, Genting Tanjung plantation, Kinabatangan.
His appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court on March 20, 2018.
Bakri, who appealed against his death sentence on two counts of murder pursuant to the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, has his sentence substituted with 36 years’ jail for each case, to run concurrently from the date of his arrest on Jan 12, 2016.
He was on March 18, 209 sentenced to death by the Sandakan High Court for murdering his ex-wife, one Hasura Sima, 36, and stepson, one Basri Jamaluddin, 24, on Jan 11, 2016 at 5.20am and 5.21am, respectively, at a worker house in an estate in Kinabatangan.
Bakri’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was rejected on July 25, 2022.
For the drugs trafficking cases, Cheng Jin Hui was found guilty and convicted of trafficking 1,397.1gm of syabu at 11.25pm on July 6, 2014 at the passengers’ examination area at the arrival hall in Terminal Two of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA).
Cheng’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed on Sept 4, 2018.
Her appeal to the Federal Court was also dismissed.
For Lan Yi Ling, she was on March 2, 2015 found guilty by the High Court here of trafficking 336gm of syabu at 6.30pm on Aug 17, 2014 at the International Arrival Hall in Terminal 1 of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), here.
Her appeal to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court was dismissed on Nov 30, 2015 and Sept 19, 2016, respectively.
In Yu Jing’s case, she was convicted by the High Court here on Oct 15, 2015 for trafficking 3,492.4gm of syabu at 11.10pm on June 22, 2014 at the Passengers’ Examination Unit, Arrival Hall of Terminal 2, Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
Her appeals to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court were rejected respectively on Nov 28, 2016 and March 20, 2018.
In Tuesday’s proceedings, the prosecution objected to the application of the murder case and did not object to the review application of the drug trafficking case.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Siew Wee and Zaki Asraf Zubir appearing for the prosecution as respondent.
Duis, Hendry and Vincent were represented by counsel Datuk Seri Rakhbir Singh, Firman, Menase, Musdar and Bakri were represented by counsel Farazwin Haxdy.
Cheng, Lan and Yu Jing were represented by counsel David Tan.
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