KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces Council (MAT) has agreed to dismiss five cadet officers from Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) for their involvement in three bullying cases at the university.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the cadets would also be required to pay compensation to the government, based on the total expenses incurred during their period of study.
In a statement today, Khaled said the MAT reached the decision during its 623rd series meeting yesterday following a recommendation from the Military Training Academy.
One of the five cadet officers, said Khaled, included 22-year-old Amirul Iskandar Ahmad Norhanizam, who has been charged with causing hurt against Muhammad Salman Mohd Saiful Surash early this month.
"Investigation showed Amirul Iskandar, who is a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering student, had physically bullied the victim.
"As such, his appointment as a cadet officer was revoked, his service in the armed forces terminated, and he was ordered to pay RM44,600.20 in compensation to the government," said Khaled in the statement.
It was reported that Amirul Iskandar on Nov 8 pleaded not guilty to pressing a heated steam iron on Salman's chest at Pertahanan Nasidasturi at Akademi Latihan Ketenteraan, UPNM in Sungai Besi at 11.45pm on Oct 22.
Khaled said the second case involved three cadet officers enrolled in the Bachelor's Degree in Defence Human Resource Management, Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science (Computer Security Systems), and Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering programmes.
He added that the first cadet officer in the case had instructed the second perpetrator to impose corrective punishment on the victim, which is a violation of the regulations outlined in the Standing Orders for cadet officers at the academy.
Khaled said the second and third cadet officers were found to have engaged in physical misconduct and physically abused the victim.
"All three perpetrators had their appointments as cadet officers revoked and their services in the armed forces terminated.
"Additionally, each of them has been ordered to pay RM48,452.75, RM19,481,70 and RM44,600.20 to the government," he said.
The fifth cadet officer who has been terminated from the armed forces is a Bachelor's Degree student in Computed Science, who was enrolled in the university in 2022.
Khaled said investigations showed the student was found to have had committed physical misconduct, causing a soft tissue injury over the lower back secondary to trauma to the victim in the third bullying case.
"As such, his appointment as a cadet officer has been revoked, he has been terminated from the armed forces and ordered to pay RM32,115.95 to the government," he said.
Khaled said all the actions against the five cadet officers are not subjected to other actions that will be taken by UPNM as well as the Attorney-General's Chambers.
He added that the ministry hopes that the decision against the five cadet officers will serve as a lesson to all parties and help restore and strengthen good military values.
"I would like also to stress that the ministry will not compromise on any form of mistreatment within military institutions and that we will continue to enhance preventive mechanisms to prevent such incidents from recurring," he said.