TAWAU: Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) ex-Intelligence Chief of Staff, who is accused of abetting six others in the murder of an e-hailing driver last January, faced another charge of abetting a policeman, Friday.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Datuk Mat Zaki Md Zain, 58, nodded when the charge sheet was read during the mention of the case before Deputy Registrar of the Tawau High Court, Suhailla Selag, who sat as a Magistrate. No plea was recorded.
He was accused of abetting John Kennedy Anak Sanggah, 44, to kill Nurman Bakaratu, 62, at an oil palm estate near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas, Mile 5 between 7.30 and 11.30pm on Jan 13, 2023.
Earlier, Suhailla allowed the prosecution’s request to transfer the case involving all eight individuals, including the woman, to the Tawau High Court with the mention date to be determined by the High Court.SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more The eight accused are police officers Rosdi Rastam, 44, Dennis Anak Enit, 44, Fabian Rungam, 43, Khairul Azman Bakar, 47, Mohd Azlan Sakaran, 39, and a civilian, Vivien Fabian, 34, her husband John Kennedy and Mat Zaki. All except Mat Zaki allegedly committed the offence on the same date, time and location.
They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code which carries the death penalty if convicted.
Mat Zaki, on the other hand, is facing two charges of abetting under Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Section 302 of the same code which carries sentence of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years, if not sentenced to death and whipped not less than 12 times.
For the record, five policemen, a senior police officer and a woman (a civilian) were charged in the Magistrate’s Court on Feb 8, while another policeman (John) was charged in the same court on Apr 11, 2023.
John previously given a bail bond as a prosecution witness, however, was charged with six others (Rosdi, Dennis, Fabian, Khairul, Mohd Azlan and Vivien) for committing murder.
The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad and DPP Mohammad Fakhrurazzi Ahmad Salim.
Mat Zaki, John Kennedy, Khairul Azman, Mohd Azlan and Vivien are represented by counsel Ram Singh, Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki and Chen Wen Jye.
Rosdi was represented by counsel Datuk Ansari Abdullah, Abd Ghani Zelika and Erveana Ansari; Dennis (Luke Ressa Balang and Hairul Vaiyron Othman) and Fabian are represented by counsel Ameer Asraaf Khairee.
The case attracted wide attention as it involved senior officers and policemen on duty at the Esscom following the discovery of the victim’s body on Jan 16.
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.