MALAYSIA: APPEALS COURT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY FOR SIX EX-UPNM STUDENTS IN FATAL BULLYING CASE

July 31, 2024:

The Court of Appeal has sent six former National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) cadets to the gallows for the murder of fellow cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain seven years ago, The Star reported on July 23, 2024.
The Court of Appeal overturned the initial 18-year prison sentences imposed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, reinstating the mandatory death penalty under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
The six students are Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat, Mohamad Shobirin Sabri, and Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali.
Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail, who chaired a three-judge panel, described the crime committed against Zulfarhan, who was branded with a hot iron all over his body including his private parts, as "shocking and rare".
The former students, who are all 28, were charged with committing the offence in a room at the Asrama Jebat block, UPNM, between 4.45 am and 5.45 am on May 22, 2017.
Zulfarhan died at the Serdang Hospital on June 1, 2017.
The case is still not over as all 6 accused can still appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Federal Court.