Tahfiz fire: Two boys freed of drug charge

KUALA LUMPUR: A 16-year-old teenager who was charged with the murder of 21 students and two teachers of a religious residential school, was acquitted by the Magistrate’s Court for Children here yesterday, of a drug-related offence.

Magistrate Zilfinaz Abbas also acquitted another boy aged 12, of a similar offence after the Kuala Lumpur Hospital Pathology Laboratory found them negative for drugs.

Lawyers Noor Svetlana Mohd Noor Nordin and Joanne Chua Tsu Fae, who represented the boy and the teenager respectively told reporters after the closed-door proceedings that the prosecution had also withdrawn the charge against their clients.

The duo were charged with inserting ganja and syabu into their bodies at the toilet of the D7 Office of the Criminal Investigation Department, Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters here at 11.35 am on Sept 16.

Joanne said another 16-year-old teenager she represented, pleaded not guilty to a charge of inserting drugs into his body, and the court fixed Jan 5 for case management and document submission.

The prosecution was conducted by Kuala Lumpur director of prosecution Othman Abdullah and deputy public prosecutor Nurakmal Farhan Aziz and Nordin Ismail.

Meanwhile, another Magistrate’s Court here yesterday fixed Jan 3, 2018 for mention of the case of the two 16-year-old boys accused of murdering 21 students and two teachers of a religious residential school in September.

The duo allegedly committed the offence at Pusat Tahfiz Darul Ittifaqiyah, Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju here between 4.15 am and 6.45 am, on Sept 14.

They face the death sentence if found guilty, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code.

The proceedings before Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamarudin were held in camera as the case involved juveniles. Media practitioners and family members of the victims were not allowed into the courtroom. - Bernama