5 days ago
6 men who abducted Palestinian get 5 years' jail
High Court judge K Muniandy ordered the prison sentence for the six accused to begin from the dates of their arrests. (Reuters pic)
KUALA LUMPUR : Six men, who previously faced charges of kidnapping a Palestinian man, have been sentenced to five years in prison by the High Court here for abducting and wrongfully confining the victim in a chalet three years ago.
Justice K Muniandy handed down the sentence to Norakmal Hassan, 46; Azwan Jamaludin, 42; Dody Junaidi, 47; Sufian Saly, 28; Tengku Hazarul Ismail Tengku Hamid, 54; and Al Hatim Auzi, 28, after they pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of abducting and confining the Palestinian man.
The court ordered all of them to begin their prison sentence from the respective dates of their arrests.
All six of them were jointly accused of forcibly abducting the 31-year-old Palestinian man with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine him in Jalan Mayang, Dang Wangi, here, at 10.40pm on Sept 28, 2022.
According to the facts of the case, the Palestinian was rescued by police who raided the location and found the victim with his hands and feet tied with cable ties.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Badius Zaman Ahmad requested a minimum prison sentence of five years for all the accused, considering the adverse impact their actions had on the country.
'Previously, all the accused were charged with kidnapping, but their representations were accepted. They should be grateful that an alternative charge was offered to them.
'The accused have been remanded for two to three years. Therefore, we request a minimum prison sentence of five years,' he said, appearing alongside DPP Sabri Othman.
Lawyer Norma Goh, representing Norakmal, Azwan, Dody, Sufian, and Tengku Hazarul, sought a minimum prison sentence, saying her clients were remorseful and had families to care for.
'In this case, our clients did not benefit or gain from the actions committed. They also have no prior criminal records and have always cooperated well with the authorities,' she added.
Lawyer Adi Zulkarnain Zulkafli, representing Al Hatim, also requested a minimum prison sentence as his client expressed regret and apologised, in addition to having no prior criminal record.
Meanwhile, the kidnapping case involving the same victim, faced by eight other accused – Tengku Arif Bongsu Tengku Hamid, 44; Naziree Mustapha, 44; Faizull Hardey Isa, 45; Iqmal Abdul Rahis, 30; Zaidi Zain, 59; Nidarahayu Zainal, 39; Raibafie Amdan, 44; and Edy Ko'im Said, 45 – will proceed to trial.
According to the charge, all eight accused, with common intent, detained the victim at the same location and time to obtain a reward, specifically secret information on how to create and deactivate computer software used for hacking mobile phones.
Tengku Arif Bongsu and the married couple, Nidarahayu and Raibafie, face 19 more charges related to money laundering involving a total of over RM250,000.
