Three military drill instructors would be charged in court today over the death of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) cadet Syamsul Haris Shamsudin.
According to a press statement issued by Bukit Aman, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has issued an instruction to prosecute the armed forces officers for allegedly causing the student's death by negligence.
"The prosecution would commence at the Kota Tinggi Sessions Court in Johor at 9am today under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code, to be read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code," said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail in the statement.
If found guilty, the suspects can be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and fined.
Syamsul, 22, died at the Kota Tinggi Hospital on July 28 after undergoing Reserve Officer Training Unit (Rotu) training.
His mother Ummu Haiman Bee Daulatgun had voiced concerns about potential foul play after seeing bruises and bloodied eyes on her son’s body before he was buried, which led to her lodging a police report.
Kota Tinggi district police chief Yusof Othman later said no criminal elements were detected in the case, while Defence Minister Khaled Nordin said his ministry had set up a committee to investigate Syamsul’s death.
On Aug 13, Khaled said the committee found no evidence of abuse in Syamsul’s death, affirming that testimonies from more than 30 witnesses, including trainees and instructors, confirmed that the Rotu training followed prescribed procedures.
On Nov 28, however, Syamsul’s family lawyer, Naran Singh, said forensic findings from Syamsul’s second autopsy confirmed that his cause of death was a traumatic neck injury, sustained when he was still alive.
On Dec 2, the AGC directed that Syamsul’s death be probed as a murder case, following a briefing by the police on the findings of its investigation report into the death. - Mkini
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