REDUCED JAIL TERM: The five appellants waiting outside the court room after making their appeal.
KUCHING: The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an appeal by five Bangladeshi nationals found guilty of robbing their countryman in Bintawa two years ago, but reduced their sentence.
The three-panel judges reduced the custodial sentence imposed on the appellants namely Mamun Mia, 32, Shahidun Islam, 25, Mohamad Rubel Abdul Batin, 25, Anis Md Angsa Ali, 22, and Raton, 37, from four to two years’ jail.
Their four-stroke of whipping sentence was also set aside by the judges namely Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Balia Yusof Wah. DPP Noor Fadzila Ishak appeared as the respondent while the appellants were not represented by any lawyer.
The appellants had prepared a written submission to defend themselves before the court yesterday.
They were originally sentenced to four years’ jail and four strokes of the cane after being found guilty of robbing their countryman, Mohammed Omar Farat, at knife point on the sixth floor of City Bridge Commercial Centre at Jalan Utama in Bintawa at 3.29am on Sept 25, 2011.
Their custodial sentence took effect from the day of their arrest — Sept 25, 2011 — except for Mamun whose jail term took effect when the judgment was made on March 14 last year.
They were convicted under Section 394 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code, which carry a maximum 20 years’ jail and whipping on conviction.