KOTA KINABALU: A Filipino construction worker pleaded not guilty to murdering his countryman before the High Court here yesterday.
Arjie Saremio, 26, denied the charge, which was read to him in the Visayan dialect, before Justice Ravinthran Paramaguru who, then fixed May 15 this year for pre-trial case management.
The accused was alleged to have murdered one Roldan, an immigrant without any documents, on Jan 24, this year at a construction site in Kampung Sinsuron, Tambunan.
The charge, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Chow Siang Kong prosecuted while the accused was represented by Datu Baginda Datu Laja.
In a separate case, Justice Chew Soo Ho fixed April 29 to hear the prosecution’s appeal against local restaurant manager Riduan Masmud.
On Feb 2 this year, the lower court sentenced Riduan, 41, to 12 years’ jail and two strokes of the cane for raping a 13-year-old girl, whom he then took as his second wife.
The statutory rape offence under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code carries a maximum of 20 years’jail and whipping, on conviction.
The Sessions Court found him guilty of raping the then 12-year-and-six-month-old girl inside a car by the roadside near the Kionsom Waterfall in Inanam about 10am on February 18, 2013.
Riduan is currently on a stay of execution, pending disposal of the appeal.