Vocational College murder: 13 accused ordered to enter defence

TAWAU: The High Court here today ordered 13 Lahad Datu Vocational College students to enter their defence on the charge of murdering a fellow student, Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan, last year.

Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol ruled that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against all the accused under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

"After examining and evaluating the witness statements throughout the prosecution case, the court ordered all of the accused to enter their defence," he said, setting the defence proceedings for March 10 to 14.

The 13 students, aged between 16 and 19, are jointly charged with murdering Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat, 17, at Dormitory Room 7 Resak and 5 Belian of Lahad Datu Vocational College between 9 pm on March 21 and 7.38 am on March 22, last year.

They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for the death penalty, or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years and up to 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Nur Nisla Abdul Latif, Ng Juhn Tao and Batrisyia Mohd Khusri.

Eight of the 13 accused are represented by lawyers Datuk Ram Singh, Kamarudin and Chen Wen Jye, while the remaining five are represented by lawyers Mohamad Zairi, Abdul Ghani Zelika, Vivian Thien, Jhesseny P. Kang, and Kusni Ambotuwo.

-- BERNAMA