5 ex-UPNM students withdraw appeal against conviction in cadet’s death
Published on: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
By: FMT
Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain died in 2017 after being assaulted by fellow National Defence University of Malaysia students. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA: Five former National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) students have withdrawn their appeals against their conviction of injuring marine cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain seven years ago.
Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Najib Razi, Afif Najmudin Azahat and Abdoul Hakeem Ali are still serving their 18-year prison sentence for injuring Zulfarhan with no intent to murder.
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Sinar Harian reported lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, representing two of the five accused, as saying in the Court of Appeal that the appeals were withdrawn as they were academic or no longer relevant.
Deputy public prosecutor K Mangai, as the respondent, did not object to the withdrawal.
The proceedings continued with the hearing of the defence’s cross-appeal against the High Court ruling that sentenced 12 other former UPNM students to three years’ imprisonment for injuring Zulfarhan.
The 12 accused are Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Lukhmanul Hakim Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri Agus, Sufi Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Ashraf Abdullah, Danial Firdaus Azmir, Hasif Ismail, Adib Iman Fuad Adi Sany and Syazwan Musa.
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On Nov 2, 2021, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Azman Abdullah (now a judge in the Court of Appeal) sentenced six of the students to 18 years’ imprisonment for injuring Zulfarhan four years ago with no intent to murder.
The six accused were Akmal, Azamuddin, Najib, Afif, Hakeem, and Shobirin Sabri. The first five were also sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for intentionally causing injury to Zulfarhan.
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The court ordered for the sentences for both charges to be served simultaneously from the date of their arrest on June 1, 2017.
The five previously faced a charge of murdering Zulfarhan under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which at the time carried the mandatory death sentence upon conviction. Hakeem was charged with abetting murder under Section 109 of the same code, which carried the same sentence.
The judge found all the accused guilty of causing injury to Zulfarhan with no intent to murder, under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code which carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine.
They were also found guilty of intentionally injuring Zulfarhan to make him confess that he had stolen a laptop, which according to Section 330 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code, carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine.
All of them were charged with committing the offence in two rooms at the UPNM hostel between May 21 and May 22, 2017.
Zulfarhan died in Serdang Hospital on June 1, 2017.
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