KOTA BHARU: A former excavator driver escaped the death penalty after the Federal Court commuted his sentence to 38 years in prison and 12 lashes for killing a woman 16 years ago.
The case was one of 28 cases reviewed during the Federal Court of Malaysia Conference at the Kota Bharu High Court today, which also involved cases in other east coast states.
In today’s proceedings, a three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat granted the review application of Zulhisham Fadly Mohamad, 43, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, and Sections 2(4) and 3(1) of the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
Tengku Maimun set aside the death sentence and replaced it with a 38-year jail sentence and 12 lashes.
She also ordered him to serve the sentence from April 21, 2008, the date of his arrest.
Deputy public prosecutor Fuad Abdul Aziz did not object to the review application.
The other judges on the panel were Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Nordin Hassan.
Zulhisham, who has been imprisoned for almost 16 years, was represented by lawyer Mazlan Zain.
In 2011, Zulhisham was sentenced to death by hanging by the Kuala Terengganu High Court for killing and burying the body of Zaiton Muhamad, 55, in a dragon fruit orchard in Hulu Kemaman, in 2008.
Zulhisham had filed an appeal in 2014 to the Court of Appeal but it was rejected by the court on June 17, 2014, confirming his death sentence.
After that, he appealed to the Federal Court, which also rejected his appeal on Sept 7, 2015, and confirmed his conviction and death sentence.
Source:
freemalaysiatoday.com, Staff, April 17, 2024
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
