LAHAD DATU, July 25 — The Magistrates Court here today transferred the case involving 13 male vocational college students, who are facing charges of murdering a fellow male student, to the Tawau High Court.
Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani granted the transfer application by deputy public prosecutor Ng Juhn Tao under Section 177A (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The proceedings were conducted in closed court as the case involved underage offenders, and the date for the mention in the High Court has yet to be set.
On April 2, the students, aged between 16 and 19, were charged in the Magistrate’s Court with jointly murdering Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan, 17, in Dormitory Room 7 Resak and 5 Belian at Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu between 9 pm on March 21 and 7.38 am the following day.
They are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years and not more than 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
Nine of the accused were represented by lawyers Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki, Datuk Ram Singh, Amirul Amin Rashid, and Chen Wen Jye, while lawyer Abdul Ghani Zelika represented one. The remaining three accused were unrepresented.
Meanwhile, Kamarudin told reporters outside the court that the prosecution had obtained approval to prosecute and requisitioned the Attorney General’s Chambers to transfer the case to the Tawau High Court.
“We have also requested, on behalf of the parents, that the teenagers be remanded in Lahad Datu Prison instead of Tawau to facilitate visitation,” he added.
On March 22, Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat was found dead in a dormitory room at the college, with multiple injuries and bruises on his body. — Bernama
