Verdict in Kevin Morais murder case on July 10

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here will deliver its verdict in the murder case of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais on July 10.

Trial judge Azman Abdullah set the date today after hearing closing submissions from deputy public prosecutors Saiful Edris Zainuddin and Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and lawyers N Sivananthan and Sheelan Arjunan.

Sivananthan represented former military doctor R Kunaseegaran, who was accused with five others of intending to murder Morais on Sept 4, 2015 between Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya.

The five others were R Dinishwaran, AK Thinesh Kumar, M Vishwanath, S Nimalan and S Ravi Chandaran.

If guilty, they will be sentenced to death.

Sivananthan argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution was not enough to convict Kunaseegaran of intending to kill the senior prosecutor.

“They said my client was angry at the deceased because he (Morais) was handling my client’s corruption case,” he said.

“I do not dispute that he was unhappy with more charges being levelled against him, but does the anger translate into murder?”

Sheelan meanwhile said the five men had said in their testimony that they did not know who killed Morais. They also denied having a dispute with him.

However, Saiful said the evidence showed that all six of them committed the crime.

“The court must evaluate all of the evidence in total and not look at it from one side,” he added.

Initially, six men were charged with murdering Morais. However, one of them, G Gunasekaran, was given an alternative charge under Section 201 of the Penal Code for the causing the disappearance of Morais’ remains. He later turned prosecution witness.

The trial started at the High Court in January 2016 with 70 witnesses testifying during the prosecution stage.

The defence trial meanwhile began in January 2018. - FMT