Federal Court commutes ex-factory workers’ death sentence to 34 years prison

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has commuted the death sentences of two former factory workers to 34 years in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane each, for the murder of an acquaintance 13 years ago.

The prison sentences imposed on V. Veeran, 41, and M.S. Sasitharan, 32, start from the date of their arrests on June 23, 2014, and June 25, 2014, respectively.

The five-member bench, led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli, along with Federal Court judges, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Nordin Hassan, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, allowed the duo’s review applications.

The court set aside the death sentences on both accused, and replaced them with life imprisonment.

The review applications were filed by the two men following the enactment of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 (Act 846), which came into effect on July 4 last year.

Veeran and Sasitharan were convicted and ordered to be sent to the gallows by the High Court, in 2016, for the murder of 24-year-old S. Vijaindran, who was attacked in a five-foot way between two shops on Jalan Tasek SS/1 in Bandar Tasik Mutiara, Seberang Prai Selatan, Penang at 11 pm on June 4, 2011.

Their appeals were subsequently dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2017, and by the Federal Court in 2019.

Lawyers T. Vijayandran, representing Veeran, and Abdul Rashid Ismail, representing Sasitharan, appealed to the court to commute the death sentence to a term of imprisonment.

However, deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi argued for the maintenance of the death sentences, emphasising the brutal nature of the murder.

Tetralina said that based on the facts of the case, the applicants had chased and attacked the deceased with a machete, inflicting a total of 22 wounds.