COURT SETS JULY 25 FOR RE-MENTION OF VOCATIONAL COLLEGE STUDENT MURDER CASE

LAHAD DATU, June 27 (Bernama) -- The Magistrate's Court here has set July 25 for the re-mention of a case involving 13 male vocational college students charged with the murder of a fellow student in March.

The accused, aged between 16 and 19, were charged with the murder of 17-year-old Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan in dormitory rooms 7 Resak and 5 Belian at the Lahad Datu Vocational College between 9 pm on March 21 and 7:38 am on March 22.

They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for 30 to 40 years and up to 12 strokes of the cane, if convicted.

Proceedings before Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani were held behind closed doors as the case involves juvenile offenders.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Juhn Tao led the prosecution, while eight of the 13 accused were represented by lawyers Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki, Datuk Ram Singh, Amirul Amin Rashid, and Chen Wen Jye; one was represented by lawyer Abdul Ghani Zelika, and four others were not represented.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Kamarudin said that the chemical and post-mortem reports for the case were still pending, and therefore the case had been set for document submission at 11 am on July 25.

"A new date has also been set as there is no order yet to transfer the case to the High Court," he said.

During this morning's proceedings, Kamarudin's team also requested that the case be expedited for transfer to the High Court.

On March 22, Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat was found dead with injuries and bruises on several parts of his body in a dormitory room at the college.

The Magistrate's Court on May 16 had set today for mention of the case.

-- BERNAMA