KOTA KINABALU: Three navy personnel claimed trial at the Sessions Court here yesterday to causing the death of their colleague last year.
Muhammad Zahirudin Nordin, 25, Mohd Hood Mah Hasib, 25, and Muhammad Fadli Zaini, 24, who were brought before judge Ainun Shahrin Mohammad, were jointly charged under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code.
The indictment carries a maximum jail of 30 years and a fine upon conviction.
The unrepresented accused were alleged to have committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder of 28-year-old Asrup Raidin at a lagoon area of the navy uniforms station (Terumbu Ubi) in Labuan at 7.36pm on December 3, 2013.
The court fixed October 20 this year for the pre-trial case management.
The trio were each released on RM10,000 bail with RM5,000 deposited and one local surety with local permanent address, pending disposal of the case.
Apart from that, the court also ordered for their passports to be deposited to court and to report themselves once a month at the nearest police station.
Earlier, Senior Federal Counsel Jamil Aripin had objected to bail on the grounds that the alleged offence is non-bailable.
In reply, the three accused said that they were still working and promised to give full cooperation in the trial.
They also said that they had no intention of absconding if they were released on bail.
Jamil then said if the court wanted to grant bail on them, he proposed a sum of RM5,000 with one local surety.
The prosecution would produce 25 witnesses to testify against Muhammad Zahirudin, Muhammad Hood and Muhammad Fadli, who hail from Selangor, Johor and Melaka, respectively.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli assisted Jamil.