Kota Kinabalu: A Federal Special Task Force personnel who was jailed 18 years and one stroke of the cane for raping an undocumented Filipina detainee at the Temporary Detention Centre in Papar, succeeded in his appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Court of Appeal Justices Datuk Lee Swee Seng, Datuk Lim Chong Fong and Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab allowed Abdul Kahar Liman’s final appeal to set aside his conviction and sentence.
The justices acquitted and discharged Abdul Kahar Liman, 39, after hearing submissions from both the appellant and the prosecution as respondent, by ruling, among others, that the appellant’s conviction was unsafe.
Abdul Kahar Liman, 39, was on Feb 19, 2021 found guilty by the Sessions Court of raping the 16-year-old undocumented Filipina on May 2018, at midnight, at the Tower 2 Building, Kimanis Temporary Detention Centre, Papar.
The charge under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, on conviction.
Abdul Kahar was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment plus one stroke of the cane and to be put under two years of police supervision thereafter.
He was also ordered to pay a compensation of RM10,000 to the victim or six months’ jail.
Abdul Kahar was ordered to serve the sentence from the date of his conviction.
He managed to obtain a stay of execution from both the High Court and Court of Appeal pending his appeal.
Abdul Kahar’s appeal against the decision was dismissed by the High Court, which affirmed both conviction and sentence.
Earlier, counsel Luke Ressa Balang representing the appellant, in his submissions, urged the court to discharge and acquit the appellant based on the evidence during the trial and it is not safe to convict him based on the evidence of the victim, who is not a credible witness.
Luke said that in case the court affirmed the ruling made by the High Court, he applied that the sentence imposed by the Sessions Court Judge be reduced as the sentence of 18 years was too excessive.
There were no physical injuries or harm done during the act, the appellant admitted that it was purely an act of love and consent, said Luke.
The prosecution applied the court to affirm the concurrent findings and decision of the Sessions Court and High Court.
There was sufficient evidence to warrant the conviction and the conviction and sentence were safe, said the prosecution and applied for the appeal to be dismissed.