The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) drew scrutiny yesterday when it filed murder and drug charges over the death of factory worker and delivery rider Amirul Hafiz Omar.
Questions were raised due to the perceived difficulty in proving a murder charge, which requires the prosecution to prove either intent or that the accused knew their actions could cause death.
There was also the question of why prosecutors had not, in addition to the murder charge, also pursued a charge under the Road Transport Act for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Section 44(1) of the Act states that those found guilty of causing death while driving under the influence can be jailed for 10-15 years, fined between RM50,000 and RM100,000, and barred from holding a driving licence for 10 years.
Repeat offenders are liable to a jail term of 15-20 years, a fine of RM100,000 to RM150,000, and a licence suspension for 20 years.
The accused in the case, R Saktygaanapathy, was said to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the fatal crash in Klang, Selangor, on Sunday morning.
He pleaded guilty yesterday to self-administering drugs. He has not yet entered a plea on the murder charge, pending the case being transferred to the High Court.
When Malaysiakini posed questions about why the AGC did not pursue both murder and drink-driving charges yesterday, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar expressed confidence in the prosecution’s decision.
“The AGC has viewed this matter as a serious matter which attracts public uproar. Looking into the facts of the case, it warrants us to charge him under Section 302 of the Penal Code (for murder).
“It was a blatant disregard of human life,” he said.
Similar charges for past cases
Dusuki added that the AGC has pursued similar murder charges for other accident cases in Cyberjaya and Terengganu.
The Cyberjaya case was believed to be a 2018 hit-and-run in which Libyan student Ahmed Abdullah Ali was charged with the murder of Wan Amirah Wan Alias.
It is not clear what happened to the case, as media reports only followed the case to the point that Ahmed was charged, with no further updates since then. Malaysiakini is contacting one of the accused’s lawyers for an update.
Meanwhile, the Terengganu case refers to a road crash incident where Norizan Ismail was charged with the murder of three Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Dungun students, and the attempted murder of another.
The case is still ongoing. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.