Prosecution seeks to prove 13 teens assaulted Lahad Datu college student before his death

TAWAU, Nov 20 — The prosecution in the trial of 13 Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu students, charged with the murder of Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan, will prove that the accused assaulted the Biotechnology programme student at the same college prior to his death.

Deputy public prosecutor Nur Nisla Abd Latif said the autopsy conducted on March 23, 2024, confirmed that Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat’s cause of death was chest and soft tissue injuries due to blunt force trauma.

“All the accused were students at Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu at the time of the incident.

“Prior to the victim’s death, he was assaulted by all the accused between 9 pm on March 21, 2024 and 7.35 am on March 22, 2024, in Dormitory Room 7 Resak and Dormitory Room 5 Belian at the college,” she said in her opening statement on the first day of the trial before High Court Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol.

Nur Nisla said Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu director Ahmad Fakhrurazi Hamzah received a phone call at 6:50 am on March 22 from college warden Muhammad Nuhrullah Aminuddin, informing him that Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat was found unconscious in Dormitory Room 7 Belian.

“Ahmad Fakhrurazi immediately rushed to Dormitory Room 7 Belian, and upon arrival, he found the student lying on a mattress on the floor. Muhammad Nuhrullah was also in the room, near Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat

“Ahmad Fakhrurazi conducted an initial check for the student’s pulse and heartbeat before performing CPR. At the same time, he instructed Muhammad Nuhrullah to call an ambulance,” she said.

Nur Nisla said the vocational college director also spotted bruises on Mohd Nazmie Aizzat’s left rib while performing CPR.

“Ahmad Fakhrurazi then asked a student, the second accused, who was sitting on a nearby bed, what had happened to Mohd Nazmie Aizzat. The student told him that the victim had been beaten the night before.

“An ambulance arrived at Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu at 7.20 am, and Mohd Nazmie Aizzat was pronounced dead at 7.38 am,” she said.

According to Nur Nisla, the prosecution would prove the case beyond reasonable doubt through the testimony of eyewitnesses, police officers, experts, and circumstantial evidence.

Earlier, the judge, together with the deputy public prosecutor and lawyers, visited the murder scene at the vocational college in Lahad Datu.

Before the trial began, Nur Nisla requested that the proceedings be declared a trial in the Children’s Court, in accordance with Section 11 of the Child Act 2001, and that media coverage be restricted due to the involvement of minor offenders.

Duncan then ordered that all unrelated parties, other than parents or guardians, leave the courtroom.

The 13 accused, aged between 16 and 19, were charged with jointly murdering Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat, 17, at Dormitory Room 7 Resak and 5 Belian at Kolej Vokasional Lahad Datu between 9 pm on March 21 and 7.38 am the following day.

The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years and not more than 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.

The prosecution was also conducted by deputy public prosecutors Ng Juhn Tao and Nur Batrisyia Mohd Khusri, while nine of the 13 teenagers were represented by lawyers Datuk Ram Singh, Chen Wen Jye, and Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki, two by lawyer Abdul Ghani Zelika, and two others by lawyers Vivian Thien and Jhassany P Kang. — Bernama