Court commutes death sentences of ex-cops
Two former policemen escaped the gallows yesterday after a Federal Court three-member panel commuted their death sentences to 40 years’ jail for the murder of an Indonesian mechanic 18 years ago.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera allowed Ailias Yahya and Saiful Azlan Shah Abdullah’s review applications under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
The duo, who have been incarcerated for 18 years and three months, were ordered to serve the sentences from the date of their arrest on
Jan 22, 2006.
DPP Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi’s request to uphold the sentence, as the case falls under a rare category, was rejected by the court.
She told the court the deceased, Yusrizal Yusuf, was under full control of the two men from the time of his arrest until his death.
She said Yusrizal, 38, was shot “execution style” after being taken to an open field at Km22 of Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor-Batu Arang road in Gombak, Selangor.
He was handcuffed and told to kneel down, then Saiful Azlan fired three shots at his head from close range while Ailias stood in front of the deceased.
Lawyer Muhammad Fadhli Sutris represented the duo and urged the court to give his clients a second chance as Ailias suffers from a chronic disease and is wheelchair bound while Saiful Azlan has been admitted to ICU several times.
Ailias, 70, was a corporal and Saiful Azlan, 60, was a lance corporal. Both were sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court in 2011 for the murder at Ladang Caledonia between 10pm and 11.30pm on Jan 13, 2006.
They lost their appeals to overturn their convictions and death sentences in the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.
The deceased allegedly had an affair with the wife of a man, who lodged a police report after the deceased threatened him. – Bernama