Ex-drug rehab warden acquitted of inmate’s murder

High Court rules that the prosecution failed to prove the injuries sustained by the deceased were caused by the accused.

The High Court in Alor Setar ruled that the murder charge could not be sustained and ordered the accused to be acquitted without having to enter his defence. (File pic)

ALOR SETAR:

 The High Court here has acquitted and discharged a former warden of a private drug rehabilitation centre on a charge of murdering an inmate at the facility in Sintok, Changlun, four years ago.

Justice Evawani Farisyta Mohammad ordered Sidi Ahmad Amin Mamat, 50, to be freed after ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

Evawani said the prosecution had failed to prove that the injuries sustained by Umar Muhajir Ghazali were caused by the accused.

She said the evidence raised the possibility that Umar had been assaulted by other individuals at two or three different locations, noting that two traces of DNA from unknown persons were found on his sarong.

The judge also said that while Sidi was charged with killing the victim by hitting Umar on the chest and neck, the prosecution’s own pathologist testified that the cause of death was injuries to a major blood vessel in the abdomen.

As a result, the court ruled that the charge could not be sustained and ordered the accused to be acquitted without having to enter his defence.

Sidi was charged with murdering Umar at the drug rehabilitation centre in Sintok near here between 11am and 6.30pm on Nov 4, 2021.

The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code was punishable by the death sentence or 30 to 40 years in prison and no less than 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

Sidi was represented by lawyers Hezeri Harun and Fadhly Yaacob, while deputy public prosecutor Shah Reza Noor Azman prosecuted. - FMT