Nhaveen's murder: Accused's lawyers served with notice of appeal

 

The lawyers of the five individuals accused of the murder of T Nhaveen have been served with the notice of the appeal against their acquittal and discharge by the High Court in George Town.

Nhaveen Action & Investigation League chairperson Arun Dorasamy said the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) is also waiting on the notice of the judgment from the same High Court before it can decide on whether the appeal proceeds.

Arun (above with the memorandum) told reporters at a press conference this afternoon that the AGC assured him, as well as Nhaveen’s mother Shanti Dorairaj and her lawyers, that it will do its best to ensure the appeal proceeds.

“The appeal notice has been served to the accused persons’ lawyers,” Arun said of the latest update.

They had met with an AGC’s Appellate and Trial Division officer for about 40 minutes.

However, Arun said he was not allowed to name the officer, although he conceded that he knows the officer as they have worked together on other cases.

A crowd of nearly 100 Indian Malaysians were also present at the press conference outside the AGC.

They held signs urging for justice for Nhaveen and for the accused to be arrested.

Acquitted and discharged

Nhaveen was allegedly killed due to violent bullying.

Last year, judge Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid acquitted and discharged S Gopinaath, 32, J Ragesuthan, 24, and S Gokulan, 24, and two others, who were juveniles at the time of the incident, after finding that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie at the end of the prosecution's case.

The five friends were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with murdering Nhaveen near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre in Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor, between 11pm and midnight on June 9, 2017.

They were also charged under Section 326 of the Penal Code with voluntarily causing grievous hurt using dangerous weapons on Nhaveen’s friend T Previin, 18, at the same place, date and time.

Arun said that they were forced to come to the AGC with members of the public today following their disappointment over their meeting with a public relations officer from the chambers last Tuesday.

They had requested a meeting with the AGC’s Appeals and Trials Division head Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar and other representatives.

However, the AGC only sent a public relations officer, who identified himself as Mohd Hafiz, to meet them.

Dissatisfied by the perceived snub, the group refused to submit their memorandum.

Grounds for judgment

Today, the AGC revealed that it is waiting on the High Court in George Town to send in the record of the appeal before it can proceed, Arun said.

It had already received the grounds for judgment from the High Court, he added.

“After they receive the appeal record from the court, they gave me around 10 to 12 days in which they will file the appeal petition if the appeal record and grounds for judgment give them the room to proceed with the appeal.

“But I was given assurance they will do everything possible to proceed (with the appeal),” he added.

Besides that, the AGC said the threshold required to obtain an arrest warrant for the five accused persons is allegedly very high, Arun said.

But Shanti’s lawyers do not agree with the threshold justification, he said.

“When the time comes, we will definitely push for that option (arrest warrant) later,” he added.

Arun also questioned why the six letters sent by his group to the AGC went unanswered.

He said the response was dissatisfactory, but he did not elaborate further.

Going forward, Arun said all correspondence between Shanti’s lawyers and the AGC regarding the case will be kept private and confidential. - Mkini