PUTRAJAYA: Four men, including two brothers, escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal allowed their appeals against conviction for the murder of a man nine years ago.
A three-member bench chaired by Hanipah Farikullah said there was merit in the appeal as the trial judge had erred in law and facts.
She said there were contradictions in the evidence of two witnesses who allegedly saw the crime.
“Therefore, the convictions are not safe and the High Court ruling is set aside. The appellants are acquitted,” said Hanipah, who sat with M Gunalan and Nordin Hassan.
Two years ago, P Narendrapathy, 35, his brother Sethupathi, 34, P Namasivayam, 32 and Aiman Mazlan, 33, were all sentenced to death.
The four, together with another four men, were alleged to have committed the offence on R Sivan in front of a house at Taman Bertam Jaya in Melaka at about 10pm on May 4, 2013.
The second set of accused were all acquitted, two at the close of the prosecution’s case and another two after their defence was called.
The High Court had also sentenced Sethupathi and Aiman to 10 years jail for causing grievous hurt to deceased brothers R Muniandy and Garnesan with a parang at a traffic junction in Cheng, Melaka, at about 11.30pm on May 4, 2013.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to enhance their jail term up to 20 years, with judge Gunalan noting that the pair have been in prison for a long period, which commenced when they were quite young.
Lawyer Paul Krishnaraja said Sethupathi and Aiman will be freed after taking into account the one-third remission given by the prison authorities for good behaviour.
Lawyers Goh Chee Kian and Amy Chong assisted Krishnaraja while deputy public prosecutor Leo anak Saga prosecuted. - FMT
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