Court upholds death sentence of ‘Tuhan Harun’ followers
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal upheld the death sentence of two “Tuhan Harun” followers for the murder of a Pahang Islamic Religious Department (Jaip) assistant enforcement chief in 2013.
Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh, who chaired a threeman Bench, said the death sentence was appropriate for the offence committed by Sumustapha Suradi, 43, and Shamsinar Abdul Halim, 41.
According to Bernama, he said that it was a sad tragedy where the duo had received orders from a person practising deviant teaching to eliminate an officer from the religious agency who was carrying out his duties under the law.
“We have reached a unanimous decision. We are of the view, based on evidence adduced in the trial, there was sufficient evidence to prove the charge against the two appellants,” said Mohd Zawawi.
He said the court had examined issues raised by the defence such as the witnesses’ credibility and that the prosecution witnesses who testified were accomplices.
He said there was no reason to doubt the evidence given by the witnesses and the court found that the evidence by the accomplices against the duo was supported with the evidence by independent witnesses.
The Bench, which also comprised Datuk Kamardin Hashim and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, unanimously dismissed their appeal against their murder conviction and death sentence.
Sumustapha and Shamsinar were appealing against the decision of the Kuantan High Court in 2016 in convicting and sentencing them to death for murdering Jaip Enforcement Division principal assistant director Ahmad Raffli Abd Malek, 49, who was shot outside his house in Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, on Nov 10, 2013.
Cult leader Harun Mat Saat, better known as “Tuhan Harun”, was also charged with conspiring in the murder.
However, the charge against him was dropped on Aug 26, 2016, after he died at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan on Aug 16, 2016, due to respiratory problems.
Meanwhile, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, two friends were sentenced to death after they were found guilty of trafficking around 123kg of drugs three years ago.
Justice Azman Abdullah handed down the sentence on sales promoter Ong Cheng Yaw, 33, and nightclub deejay San Kim Huat, 38, after finding them guilty to four charges of trafficking in various types of drugs.
The offence was committed at a house in Jalan Denai Selatan, Desa Park City, Kepong, at 6.25pm on May 12, 2015.