PUTRAJAYA: An unemployed man was spared from life imprisonment after the Federal Court today replaced the sentence with 30 years in prison for kidnapping three Bangladeshi men for a ransom of RM50,000 in 2014.
A three-judge panel, led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, in a unanimous decision, also upheld the 10 strokes of the cane sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal on Suhaimi Alias, 47.
Justice Abang Iskandar, presiding with Federal Court Judges Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, ordered the appellant to serve the prison sentence from the date of arrest on March 16, 2014.
However, Justice Abang Iskandar dismissed the appellant’s final appeal to set aside the conviction after finding that it had no merit.
“Therefore, the conviction against the appellant is maintained,” said the judge.
In July 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane imposed on Suhaimi by the Shah Alam High Court.
Suhaimi was charged, along with two other individuals, with kidnapping Md Gholam Faruque, Mohamed Rafik, and Sojib, for a ransom of RM50,000, at a mini-market in Jalan Meru, Klang at 4 am on March 16, 2014.
They were charged under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for a mandatory death sentence or life imprisonment and liable to whipping.
Earlier, lawyer Juwayriyyah Hassan, representing Suhaimi, requested that her client’s appeal be allowed on the grounds that the element of kidnapping could not be proven by the prosecution as required by Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961.
“There was no ransom demand by the appellant’s son in this case,” she said.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz argued that the kidnapping element was proven by the prosecution’s main witness, who was one of the victims, by identifying Suhaimi as the individual who kidnapped the victims from the supermarket before locking them in a hotel room.
“The hotel room is where the three kidnapped victims were found and rescued by the police. The appellant’s lawyer’s argument regarding no ransom request at the trial stage did not arise.
“The ransom request was proven by the testimony of one victim who overheard a phone conversation requesting a ransom of RM50,000. However, only RM8,000 in ransom was paid by the victim’s son,” Afzainizam said. - Bernama
