KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Sam Ke Ting, who was recently sentenced to six years in prison by the High Court for a traffic accident that killed eight teenagers on modified bicycles, has reportedly been given leave to appeal the High Court’s decision.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported today that Sam’s appeal is set to be heard at 9am on Monday, in the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya.

Sam was charged with reckless or dangerous driving, resulting in the death of the eight cyclists through the accident which happened at 3.20am in 2017 at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Baru.

The accident reportedly involved a group of 30 teenagers, who were riding lajak bicycles — a specific type of modified bicycle which includes the removal of brakes.

Sam was 22 at the time.

After the High Court’s sentencing on Monday, Sam’s lawyer had asked for a stay of execution, but Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar denied it on the grounds that they had yet to get approval from the Court of Appeal.

FMT also reported that the following day, the lawyer, Faizal Mokhtar, filed a notice of motion for leave to appeal and to stay the execution of her sentence, along with a certificate of urgency, through the court’s e-filing system.

The judge’s decision to not grant a stay of execution has been criticised by lawmakers and the public, with many seeing Sam as innocent and being in a situation that was difficult to avoid.

Several online petitions have been launched siding with Sam, asking for her to be set free — the largest of which has over 800,000 supporters at the time of writing.

The High Court’s decision had yesterday reversed the previous acquittal of Sam over the reckless driving charge sentencing her to imprisonment without allowing bail and also to a RM6,000 fine and three-year driving ban upon completion of her prison term.

The decision came after the Magistrate’s Court in Johor Baru in October 2019 acquitted Sam without calling for her to enter defence as the court found that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case, and after the same Magistrate’s Court in October 2021 again acquitted Sam as it found the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.