By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, May 14: The Federal Court sitting in Kuching today commuted the death sentences of three prisoners convicted of murder and one prisoner convicted of drug trafficking under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
According to a press release, a three-member bench consisting of Federal Court Judges Justice Dato’ Rhodzariah Bujang, Justice Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, and Dato’ Nordin Hassan heard the Review Applications of the four prisoners and allowed all their respective applications.
“The review applications were filed under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023 and the Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, which confer the Federal Court with the discretion to review cases involving the death sentence,” read the press release.
For three of the death row inmates convicted of murder—Asis Lako, 41; Daud Passarin, 40; and Daniel Usin, 34—their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment of 35 years with 12 strokes of the rotan, 34 years with 12 strokes, and 33 years with 12 strokes, respectively.
As for the prisoner convicted of drug trafficking, 51-year-old Ramasamy Mahendran, his death sentence was commuted to 30 years.
The Federal Court ordered all of them to begin their life imprisonment sentences from the respective dates of their arrests.
The four prisoners were represented by Counsels Simon Siah, Jong Yee Ling, Russell Lim, Eirene Chan, Moh Ung Kieng, and Brendan Ting. — DayakDaily
