Federal Court upholds gallows on four for lecturer's murder

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today upheld the conviction and death sentence on four former college students for the murder of their lecturer, Zara Eleena Omar Peter in 2012.
They are Mohamad Zul Shahril Suhaimi, 26; Mohamad Sharafe Matt Noh, 25; Azizi Aizat Ibrahim, 26; and Mohamad Safwan Muhamad, 26.
A five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif also affirmed the conviction and death sentence on Mohamad Zul Shahril; Mohamad Sharafe and Azizi Aizat for the murder of the lecturer's father, Omar Peter Abdullah.
Md Raus held that the evidence against the four was overwhelming.
The bench which also comprised Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim, Datuk Sri Balia Yusof Wahi and Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin unanimously dismissed the final appeal by the four men.
Mohamad Zul Shahril, Mohamad Sharafe, Azizi Aizat and Mohamad Safwan who studied at Cybernetics International College of Technology were sentenced to death when the High Court found them guilty of killing Zara Eleena, 23, who lectured English at the college between 1.30am and 2.30am on March 9, 2012.
Mohamad Zul Shahril, Mohamad Sharafe and Azizi Aizat were also convicted of murdering the lecturer's father, Omar, 56, a retiree of a finance company, between 11.30pm, March 8, 2012, and 1.30am the following day.
They were accused of committing the murders at No. 28, Jalan TK 1/11, Taman Kinrara, Puchong.
Initially, the High Court in 2014 had acquitted Mohamad Safwan without calling for his defence to the charge of murdering Zara Eleena and her father.
On July 30, 2015, the Court of Appeal upheld Mohamad Safwan's acquittal against the murder of Omar but ordered him to enter his defence against the charge of murdering Zara Eleena and he was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to death by the High Court.
The conviction and death sentence on the four were subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, the prosecution did not file an appeal to the Federal Court against Mohamad Safwan's acquittal for the alleged murder of Omar.
Lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik who represented Mohamad Sharafe submitted that there were many contradictions in the evidence of a prosecution witness Fadhil Rusdan Rahman which the High Court did not consider.
The witness was an accomplice but was made a prosecution witness in the case.
Hisyam said the High Court should have assessed the witness's evidence at the prima facie stage but the court only made the assessment after defence was called.
Counsel Datuk Naran Singh for Mohamad Safwan argued that if the High Court judge had believed Fadhil Rusdan's testimony, then the court must acquit his client as the witness had testified that Mohamad Safwan was not involved in either of the murders.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Huda Noraini Mohamed Noor submitted that the High Court had assessed Fadhil Rusdan's evidence and found him to be reliable.
Lawyer Nik Mohamed Ikhwan Nik Mahmud represented Mohamad Zul Shahril while lawyer Shamsul Sulaiman acted for Azizi Aizat. — Bernama