CRADLE FUND CEO MURDER CASE: FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS ACQUITTAL OF SAMIRAH, TEENS

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- The Federal Court today upheld the acquittal of Samirah Muzaffar and two teenagers on the charge of murdering Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan eight years ago.

A three-judge panel led by Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais unanimously dismissed the prosecution’s final appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge Samirah and the two youths of the murder charge.

The other judges on the panel were Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Nordin Hassan.

On Feb 8, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the Shah Alam High Court’s ruling to acquit and discharge Samirah, 51, who is Nazrin’s widow, and the two youths, now aged 20 and 23, of the charge.

The three of them, together with an Indonesian woman, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, were charged with murdering Nazrin, 45, at his residence in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30 pm on June 13, 2018 and 4 am the following day.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Abu Bakar said the court found no error in the grounds given by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in acquitting the three respondents of the charge.

“Based on the appellant’s (prosecution) written and oral submissions as well as those of the respondents, we are unable to find that the prosecution had established a prima facie case at the close of its case.

“The prosecution failed, among others, to prove that the three accused had a common intention to cause injury which eventually led to death,” he said.

Justice Abu Bakar also said that the circumstantial evidence did not establish a prima facie case at the close of the prosecution’s case, particularly with the presence of a fourth individual in the house at the material time.

“Overall, we are unanimous in upholding the decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and in dismissing the appellant’s appeal,” he said.

Earlier, the panel of judges sought clarification from the prosecution on the alleged common intention of the three respondents to cause grievous bodily harm to the victim, which ultimately led to his death.

To this, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah submitted that the three respondents were the last individuals with the victim as they were in the same house on the night of the incident.

“We are unable to prove who actually committed the act. However, there is no evidence to show that the house was broken into,” he said.

When questioned by Justice Datuk Abu Bakar Jais on the presence of another individual in the house, despite the woman not being called to testify, Mohd Asnawi said efforts had been made to trace her but were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who represented Samirah and the two teenagers, said the individual in question was not untraceable but was, in fact, still with Samirah and had assisted her in packing before the family moved from their residence in Mutiara Damansara to Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

He said the charge against his clients was doubtful as the prosecution had failed to prove the existence of common intention among the three respondents.

-- BERNAMA