By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Sept 26: A 36-year-old bodyguard was brought before the Magistrates’ Court here today to face a murder charge linked to the killing of a young man at an apartment along Jalan Sungai Tapang late last year.
The accused, Lu Chieng Kiong, nodded in acknowledgement after the charge was read before Senior Assistant Registrar Abdurrahman Abrar Jarni. No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
The court fixed October 31, 2025, for case mention and denied bail.
Lu, together with 11 other individuals still at large, is accused of being part of an unlawful assembly that led to the death of Francis Chang Ze, 22, at about 4.30am on December 1, 2024.
He is charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 149, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years, along with at least 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Siow Chung Hwei appeared for the prosecution, while Lu was represented by Dato Shankar Ram Asnani and Lim Lian Kee.
According to earlier reports, police received a call at about 4.40am on the day of the incident regarding a fight at the apartment complex. Responding officers later discovered the victim dead from slash wounds inside one of the units.
In a separate proceeding at the same court, Lu pleaded not guilty to two unrelated charges of extortion and criminal intimidation involving a 39-year-old man. The alleged offences took place at a police station office in Batu 10, Kota Padawan, on September 16, 2025, at around 1pm.
For the first charge, he is accused of intimidating the victim into handing over RM50,000, an offence framed under Section 383 and punishable under Section 384 of the Penal Code.
The second charge accuses him of issuing threats against the same victim, an offence under Section 506 of the Penal Code.
For these charges, the court fixed case management on October 31, 2025. — DayakDaily
