Life imprisonment, six strokes of the rotan for kidnappers of 12 year old Dutch boy

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today sentenced three people to life imprisonment with six strokes of the rotan for kidnapping a 12 year old Dutch boy who was on his way to school in April 2012.
Those sentenced were Chong Tat Siong, 27, Foong Khar Fai, 22 and Lee Phak Seng, 26 who were charged with kidnapping the boy, who was 12 years old in 2012, with intention to demand RM300,000 ransom money.
They will serve 30 years in jail commencing from their date of arrest Chong (May 7, 2015), Foong (May 8, 2015) and Lee (May 10, 2015).
High Court judge Kamardin Hashim who found the three accused guilty of their charges said the offence is serious and in Malaysia the penalty for the offence is death or life imprisonment.
"I believe the sentence is appropriate in this case," said Kamardin.
He said he did some research and that in the victim's home country, the sentence imposed for kidnap case is about 9 to 11 years and that it is a "civil country", which no longer imposes death penalty.
They were alleged to have committed the offence with another, who is still at large, at Jalan Kiara 1, Mont Kiara at 7.30am on April 27, 2012.
Under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, it is death sentence or life imprisonment, upon conviction. All three had claimed trial to their charges.
The name of the victim is withheld as the High Court had ordered for identity of the victim including name, address and any information leading to his identification not to be reported in the media.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nordin Ismail the victim was only 12 years old, at the time of the incident and studying in an international school.
The boy's kidnap, he added, was widely covered by the media.
He said the victim was traumatised while in the hands of the kidnappers who took him to (Chemor) Perak for few days before releasing him at the Rawang RMR.
"I believe this matter affected the boy and his family members with his father under tremendous pressure and trauma," said Nordin.
The defence lawyers in urging for leniency urged the court to send their clients to Sungai Buloh prison as it is nearer for their families to visit.
Chong's lawyer Rejinder Singh said his client is married with one child and was lured into committing the crime by another accused, who is still at large.
Furthermore, Rejinder said the victim did not suffer from any physical or mental injury and if there was then the prosecution would have submitted it in the court.
Lawyer Datuk Haniff Hashim, who represented Foong said his client was only 19 years old when the offence took place and regretted what he did.
While, lawyer Chong Joo Tian said Lee is the second child among three siblings and that he too regrets his act.
Rejinder told the media that he will file an appeal against the conviction and sentence.
About 29 prosecution witnesses had testified in the case, including the victim and five defence witnesses besides the three accused.