IPOH: Senior police officer DeputySuperintendent Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak pleaded not guilty in the High Court here today to the charge of murdering a Form Five student in a hit-and-run incident near a school last year.
According to the charges, the accused was alleged to have murdered Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie, 17, on Jalan Taman Jati 1, near Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jati in the Kinta district, between 11.45am and 12.40pm on Dec 15, 2023.
The High Court has set a trial period of 30 days for the murder case with it scheduled to begin on Nov 4.
Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet set the date and duration of the trial during the case proceedings today.
Both parties were also ordered by the court to submit their affidavits by July 1.
The accused, who was previously stationed at the Kedah police headquarters, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after the charges against him were read out.
The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code, if convicted, carries the death penalty or imprisonment for up to 40 years, and if not sentenced to death, shall be punished with no less than 12 whippings.
Deputy public prosecutors, Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, Saiful Akmal Mod Said and Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani led the prosecution.
The accused was represented by lawyers Jacky Loi Yap Loong, Lim Chi Chau and M Kuhan.
Present at today's proceedings were observing lawyers appointed by the victim's family, Yasmin Khalid and Amira Najwafitri Amir Arif.
During the same proceedings, Afzainizam told the court that the prosecution needed about a month to finalise the list of witnesses before the documents were handed over to the defence, as it involved approximately 60 witnesses including expert witnesses.