MALAYSIA: HANDICAPPED MAN SENT TO THE GALLOWS FOR MURDER

June 14, 2013: Handicapped Fong Chee Peng, 50, was sentenced to death by hanging by the High Court in Malaysia after he was found guilty of killing a woman two years ago.
Judge Stephen Chung Hian Guan imposed the sentence after the prosecution successfully proved a prima facie case against Fong.
In reading out the decision, Chung said Fong from Jalan Hokkien, had committed a serious offence under Section 302 of the Penal Code in which the penalty is death upon conviction.
He said medical tests conducted by a consultant psychiatrist during Fong’s two-month stay at Sentosa Hospital in Kuching confirmed that he had a mental problem, but he was aware of what he was doing and knew that what he did was wrong.
“This is proven when the accused was able to relate the incident to the senior consultant psychiatrist and Sentosa Hospital director Dr Lau Kim Fah.
“Furthermore, police also found out that during the offence the accused was under the influence of Ecstasy.”
Chung said the sentence was imposed after the court decided that the defence failed to raise any reasonable doubt in this case.
According to the facts of the case, Fong killed Suzana Abol, 24, at 6am on March 29, 2011, in a rented room No 13, Lot 232, Jalan Hokkien.
He also faced another charge under Section 309 of the Penal Code for attempted suicide by cutting his neck and stabbing his stomach.
The offence was committed at 11.45am on the same day and place. For this charge, he was sentenced to two months jail, effective from the date of arrest. He had thus served this sentence.
During the trial, which started on Jan 30 this year, the prosecution called 21 witnesses, including Dr Lau, while the defence called four witnesses, including Fong, Dr Rajinder Singh Gurcharan Singh, Fong’s brother and an interpreter.
When Chung passed judgement, Fong, who lost his right hand in an accident 13 years ago, looked calm and relaxed.
The prosecution was led by Senior Federal Counsel Yaacub Chik, while the accused was represented by assigned counsel Shaikh Rajjish. (Sources: theborneopost.com, 15/06/2013)