PUTRAJAYA, Oct 9 — The Federal Court has set aside the murder convictions of two Pakistani nationals, replacing them with convictions for culpable homicide not amounting to murder of their fellow countryman, and sentenced each to 18 years in prison.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member bench led by Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, along with Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, allowed the appeals by Mehmood Nasir, 48, and Muhammad Ramzan, 34, yesterday.
The court ordered the sentences to begin from the date of their arrest on August 17, 2018.
Lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein, representing Mehmood, and lawyer S. Jayananda Rao, representing Ramzan, confirmed the court’s decision to Bernama when contacted.
Jayananda said the Federal Court found that the ingredients under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code were not fulfilled, and therefore, the murder convictions could not be sustained.
During the appeal hearing, he argued that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal failed to analyse, beyond a reasonable doubt, the ingredients of Section 300(c) of the Penal Code and therefore the murder charge could not stand.
Jayananda added that he urged the Federal Court to substitute the charge with one under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code — culpable homicide not amounting to murder — which carries a lesser penalty.
Both men were initially charged with the murder of their compatriot Ali Adnan, 28, in a room at an apartment in Desa Aman Puri, Selangor, between 5pm on August 15, 2018, and 3am the following day.
On April 7, 2023, the High Court convicted both men of murder and sentenced them to death. However, on June 21 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but commuted the death sentence to 35 years in prison along with 12 strokes of the cane.
According to facts of the case, the victim was allegedly kidnapped and held at the apartment as part of a ransom demand, and his body was later discovered in a box at a separate location, following a statement made to police by Ramzan.
A post-mortem revealed that Ali died from blunt force trauma to the head.
At the Federal Court proceedings, Mehmood was represented by lawyers Ariff Azami and Azizzul Shariman Mat Yusoff. Ramzan was represented by Jayananda Rao, Datuk Wira Mohtaruddin Baki, and Kishan Ganesan, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Faizal@Amrin Noorhadi appeared for the prosecution.
