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JOHOR BAHRU: Three men who were charged with the murder of a man at a gas station in Taman Pelangi here three years ago were acquitted and released by the High Court here today.
Judicial Commissioner Shahnaz Sulaiman released Gan Jia Ji, 22, Yip Kah Hou, 26, and Woon Kian Hui, 25, after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the trio.
Shahnaz, in his ruling, said there were several reasons for the court’s decision.
“The images from the closed circuit camera (CCTV) at the gas station were too blurry to link the three defendants to the case.
“The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples were also not compatible with the blood found at the site. This is in addition to the investigations that were not made on the alibis, “he said when reading his sentence.
Shahnaz said the prosecution had also not linked the BMW car to the murder.
Gan and five other people still at large were charged with causing the death of 44-year-old Tan Aik Chai at a gas station at 7.30pm on December 17, 2017, alongside Jalan Sri Pelangi in Taman Pelangi here.
Yip and Woon, along with two others who were still at large, were charged with being complicit in the murder with Gan and five others who were still at large at the same time and place.
Gan was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction. Yip and Woon were charged under article 302 of the Penal Code, read in conjunction with article 109 and article 34 of the same law, which also carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
Suriani Ujang prosecuted while Gan was represented by S Freda, Che Azlin Farahannis Evani, Foo Fang Leong and Veeranesh Babu.
Yip was represented by lawyer Chuah Shyue Chien, while Ramkarpal Singh and Harshaan Zamani represented Woon.
A total of 22 witnesses were called to testify at the trial that began last year. A total of 42 exhibitions were produced.
