JOHOR BARU: A 47-year-old former security guard has successfully gotten his death sentenced commuted to 38 years in prison for the 2013 murder of an AmBank officer in Subang Jaya.
The decision was made by a Federal Court panel of three judges led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, alongside Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.
La Ode Ardi Rasila will also receive 12 lashes of the cane for the sentence under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
La Ode, from Sulawesi, also received 33 years and 12 lashes under Section 3 of the Firearms Act (Increased Penalties) 1971 for robbery and intentionally discharging a shotgun after the death penalty was set aside.
Both sentences run concurrently from his arrest date, November 10, 2013.
According to the charge sheet, La Ode was accused of killing Norazita Abu Talib, 37, in the AmBank building in Jalan Sentral 2, USJ Sentral, Subang Jaya, Selangor, between 6pm and 6.30pm on Oct 23, 2013.
In the incident, La Ode reportedly asked the victim's colleague to fill a bag with approximately RM500,000 before fleeing on a motorcycle.
The case was handled by deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad, while the accused was represented by lawyer S. Selvi.
On February 29, 2016, the Federal Court upheld the death sentence after a five-judge panel led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, unanimously rejected La Ode's appeal, satisfied with sufficient evidence to uphold the Shah Alam High Court's decision.
La Ode lived in Malaysia using a fake identity card and sought work in Malaysia before becoming a security guard in 2012.