MALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES EX-FACTORY WORKERS’ DEATH SENTENCES

Malaysia’s Federal Court has commuted the death sentences of two former factory workers to 34 years in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane each, for the murder of an acquaintance 13 years ago.
The prison sentences imposed on V. Veeran, 41, and MS Sasitharan, 32, start from the date of their arrests on June 23, 2014 and June 25, 2014 respectively.
The five-member bench, led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli, along with Federal Court judges Justices Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Nordin Hassan, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, allowed the duo’s review applications on October 16, 2024.
The court set aside the death sentences on both accused and replaced them with life imprisonment.
The review applications were filed by the two men following the enactment of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 which came into effect on July 4 last year.
Veeran and Sasitharan were convicted and ordered to be sent to the gallows by the High Court in 2016, for the murder of 24-year-old S. Vijaindran.
The deceased was attacked on the five-foot way between two shops on Jalan Tasek SS/1 in Bandar Tasik Mutiara, Seberang Prai Selatan, Penang at 11pm on June 4, 2011.
Their appeals were subsequently dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2017, and by the Federal Court in 2019.
Lawyers T. Vijayandran, representing Veeran, and Abdul Rashid Ismail, representing Sasitharan, appealed to the court to commute the death sentence to a term of imprisonment.
DPP Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi argued for the death sentences to be retained, pointing out the brutal nature of the murder.
Tetralina said that based on the facts of the case, the applicants had chased and attacked the deceased with a machete, inflicting a total of 22 wounds.