The three-member panel becomes the first not to commute a death sentence under the temporary jurisdiction conferred by law.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today upheld the death sentence for a man who killed his three daughters in 2002.
In doing so, the panel became the first to deny an application to commute a death sentence under the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act enacted last year.
The three-member panel, chaired by Court of Appeal president Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, ruled that the death sentence handed down to Junaidi Bambang, an Indonesian national, was safe.
“Based on the circumstances, the case does not warrant the exercise of our discretion,” he said.
Also on the panel were Justices Mary Lim and Abu Bakar Jais.
Junaidi murdered his three daughters – Julaiha, Julaika and Juriyanti – on Feb 27, 2002, at their home in Kampung Dusun in Pekan, Pahang.
In 2005, the High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Both the conviction and death sentence were subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
Junaidi filed a review last year, asking the Federal Court to set aside the death penalty.
According to the facts of the case, Junaidi was unhappy with his wife Leha Pigi’s decision to take two of their daughters to Melaka, causing a misunderstanding between the couple.
He alleged that his sister-in-law, with whom his wife and children lived in Melaka, wanted to sell his daughters into prostitution.
On Feb 28, 2002, when Leha returned to the family’s home, she found the front door padlocked. There was no response from her daughters when she called them.
She then entered the house through the rear door and saw Junaidi lying in the kitchen, frothing at the mouth.
She also found her three daughters lying motionless in the living room.
The pathologist said in his post-mortem report that the girls died from “asphyxia due to strangulation”.
Junaidi’s statement under caution was tendered in the trial, in which he admitted to strangling his daughters and later consuming pesticide.
Earlier today, Junaidi’s lawyer S Kulaselvi urged the court to reduce the death sentence to 35 years in prison.
She said that he hoped to be given a chance to reform himself, having been in prison for 22 years.
However, deputy public prosecutor Amril Johari told the court that the prosecution objected to Junaidi’s review bid, saying that his actions constituted a blatant disregard for human life.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today, Ho Kit Yen, January 17, 2024
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