PETALING JAYA: The Federal Court sitting in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, today commuted the death sentence of three men to 33 years in jail each for the murder of a convenience store worker in Penampang in 2001.
A three-member bench chaired by Justice Zabariah Yusof also ordered Duis Akim, 49, Vincent Gisup, 43, and Hendry Motutud, 44, to be given 12 strokes of the rotan for killing Wilfred Thomas, 34.
They are expected to be released from prison in 2026, following a one-third remission given to inmates for good behaviour.
Justices Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Rhodzariah Bujang were the other judges who heard the matter which had come before the apex court following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty last year.
The trio’s case was brought up under the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
Deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee urged the bench to retain the death penalty or, alternatively, to impose a jail term of between 35 and 40 years.
“Each of them was armed with a 12-inch parang and slashed the victim who sustained 12 slash wounds,” she said, adding that the crime was a gruesome murder.
Lawyer Rakhbir Singh, who appeared for the three men, pleaded for leniency as they had spent long years in prison.
The murder took place at a 7-Eleven outlet in Donggongon at 2am on May 26, 2001.
On July 10, 2007, the High Court acquitted them after calling for their defence.
However, following an appeal by the prosecution, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court’s ruling and sentenced them to death in 2012.
The Federal Court affirmed the conviction and sentence the following year. - FMT
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