IPOH: The High Court today rejected the bail application of a senior police officer charged with the murder of a 17-year-old male student last year.
Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet made the decision after hearing the bail motion filed by the accused, Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, 45.
"There were no special circumstances to justify granting bail under Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code," he said, adding that the trial would proceed as scheduled.
On May 14, Bhupindar set the trial dates from Nov 4 to 8; Nov 11 to 15; Dec 2 to 6; Dec 9 to 13; Jan 6 to 10; and Jan 13 to 17.
Mohd Nazri filed the application on May 3 at the High Court here.
Mohd Nazri is represented by counsel Jacky Loi Yap Loong, with his team consisting of Lim Chi Chau, Lim Jin Wen, Cindy Wong, and M. Kuhan.
The prosecution is led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, and includes Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Low Qin Hui.
Earlier, Loi, in his submission, requested bail for his client to ensure the safety of his client's family and to avoid the inconvenience of meeting his counsel in prison.
Loi added that the prosecution team had not proven the "intention to murder" in this case.
"A crime can only be classified as such if there was an act of intention. There is no intention here. It can't be that someone caused an accident and then called it murder," he said.
Meanwhile, Afzainizam, in his submission, countered saying that Mohd Nazri had full access to his counsel in prison.
"The prison did not prevent Mohd Nazri from meeting his counsels. Therefore, no issue of inconvenience justifies granting bail," he said.
Regarding the intention behind the crime, Afzainizam said there was reasonable ground to believe that the offence was committed.
He also said that it would be for the court to determine whether there was intention during the trial, not during the bail application process.
"Based on witness statements, the suspect was driving a Perodua Ativa when he rammed into the victim. He did not drive a police car, so it cannot be claimed that he was chasing a suspect.
"The witness also saw the suspect exit the car after hitting the victim's motorcycle, but he fled the scene shortly afterward," he said.
Afzainizam added that the post-mortem report indicated that the victim died due to chest and abdominal injuries caused by the road traffic collision.
"We have forensic, dash-camera, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) evidence showing that the suspect was driving above the speed limit," he said.
On Dec 18, last year, the senior police officer, with the rank of deputy superintendent, was charged in the magistrate's court here with the murder of the student.
According to the charges, the accused is 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.
He is charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which is punishable by death or imprisonment for between 30 and 40 years, with not less than 12 strokes, if found guilty.