PUTRAJAYA – The 12 former Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) students, who saw their jail sentence upped to four years from three, have started serving their time today, seeing there were no applications for a stay.
Lawyer Azizul Shariman Mat Yusoff – who represented the 12 accused who are now all aged 28 – with AG Kalidas and Wesley Wong, confirmed this after the Court of Appeal proceedings.
The 12 are Mohd Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Mohamad Lukhmanul Hakim Mohd Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri Agus, Muhammad Sufi Mohd Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah, Muhammad Danial Firdaus Azmir, Muhammad Hasif Ismail, Muhammad Adib Iman Fuad Ady Sani and Mohamad Syazwan Musa.
They were found guilty of deliberately injuring Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain to coerce a confession from him that he had stolen a laptop in 2017.
They were then charged under Section 330 of the Penal Code and initially sentenced to three years imprisonment in 2021 by the high court. They were granted a stay at that time, pending their appeal.
Today, the Court of Appeal panel headed by Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail increased their custodial term to four years, after the judges found they took part in beating Zulfarhan for two days straight in May 2017.
The 12, clad in formal wear and face masks, were frozen in shock at the panel’s decision. However, they were quickly embraced by their family members when the court proceedings ended.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal convicted another six former UPNM students of murder for torturing Zulfarhan in May 2017, which led to his death days later.
The court also handed down the death penalty for the “despicable, inhumane and merciless” acts inflicted on Zulfarhan, including 90 scald burns covering 80% of his body. – July 23, 2024