TAWAU: A police officer who served under the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) was charged at the magistrate's court here today with murdering an e-hailing driver on Jan 13.
The accused, John Kennedy Sanggah, 44, who was previously granted bail as a prosecution witness, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, which provides for the death penalty if found guilty.
No plea was recorded after the charge was read before magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus.
The court set July 7 for case mention.
The accused and six others were charged with conspiring to murder e-hailing driver Nurman Bakaratu, 61.
The offence allegedly occurred at an oil palm plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Batu 5, here, between 7.30pm and 11.30pm on Jan 13.
Earlier, Dzul Elmy set July 7 for mention of a case involving the former chief of staff of Esscom Intelligence, Senior Assistant Commissioner Datuk Mat Zaki Md Zain, 58, who was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetment, read together with Section 302 of the same code, for conspiring with six individuals in Nurman's murder.
The prosecution is conducted by deputy public prosecutors Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad, Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad, Mohammad Fakhrurazzi Ahmad Salim and Low Win Hui.
John and Mat Zaki were represented by Ram Singh, Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki and Chen Wen Jye.
Meanwhile, magistrate Leona Dominic Mojiliu set July 7 for mention of a case involving five other police officers and a woman.
All accused — Rosdi Rastam, 44, Denis Anit, 44, Fabian Rungam, 43, Khairul Azman Bakar, 47, Mohd Azlan Sakaran, 39, and layperson Vivien Fabian, 34 — were present with their lawyers.