Six to hang for murder of Kevin Morais
(FMT) – The High Court here today sentenced six men to death for murdering deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais five years ago.
Trial judge Azman Abdullah made the ruling after finding all six guilty of the murder charge against them under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
“The prosecution has proven their case beyond reasonable doubt,” he added.
The ruling will see former military doctor R Kunaseegaran face the noose, along with R Dinishwaran, AK Thinesh Kumar, M Vishwanath, S Nimalan and S Ravi Chandaran.
They were convicted of murdering Morais on Sept 4, 2015 between Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul here and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya.
After the proceedings, Morais’ younger brother Richard Morais read a statement on behalf of the family.
“After four and a half years of stress and waiting for justice to be served, I implore the trial judge to hear my brother’s voice and hand down the highest possible sentence.
“This will not change the fact that we have lost Kevin, a fantastic and dedicated DPP, a loving and caring brother, a supportive and loyal friend,” Richard said.
Morais’ colleagues from the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) and Solicitor-General Abdul Razak Musa were also present in court for the decision.
Deputy public prosecutors Saiful Edris Zainuddin and Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin appeared for the prosecution while lawyer N Sivananthan represented Kunaseegaran. Lawyer Sheelan Arjunan represented the other five men.
Wan Shaharuddin said he had been handling the murder case since the first day the accused were charged in court.
“This is the longest case that I have taken. Even though I am working at another agency, I still conducted Kevin’s prosecution,” he said.
Razak told reporters that most of the senior legal officers who came to court today had worked with Morais previously and they were thankful for today’s court decision.
Meanwhile, Sivananthan said the defence will proceed with its appeal process.
“We will move on to the next stage. Today’s decision is only part one of the legal process,” he said.
Initially, six men were charged with murdering Morais. However, one of them, G Gunasekaran, was given an alternative charge under Section 201 of the Penal Code for causing the disappearance of Morais’ remains. He later turned prosecution witness.
The trial started at the High Court in January 2016 with 70 witnesses testifying during the prosecution stage, while the defence trial began in January 2018.
