IPOH: The High Court here has rejected the bail application by a senior police officer charged with the murder of a secondary school student.
Justice Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet delivered his decision on Thursday (Sept 5) after considering the arguments presented by both the prosecution and counsel for the accused.
He said there were no special reasons or situations for the application to be granted.
The accused, Deputy Supt Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, was accused of murdering the 17-year-old student at Jalan Taman Jati near SMK Jati between 12.05pm and 12.40pm on Dec 15.
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He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code at a Magistrate's Court here on Dec 18 and the case was transferred to the High Court earlier this year.
During Thursday's proceeding, DSP Mohd Nazri's lawyer Jacky Loi said his client, being a police officer, would be in danger while in transit between the court and prison.
"Before being transported to Taiping Prison, he would be placed in a transitional prison in Kamunting where there is a mix of inmates.
"We have written to the Prisons Department on this," he said, adding that his client would be put in a solitary cell at the Taiping Prison.
"He is a police officer. There is no guarantee that he can be safe," he added.
Loi claimed that in the narrative of the case, the deceased had caused a disturbance by travelling at high speed near a school.
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His client was therefore duty-bound as a police officer to ensure public safety and prevent such a crime, he added.
"We are not saying (the accused) is absolutely innocent, but he is a police officer. A chase took place.
"There was also no motive shown for the murder and the accused did not know the deceased," he said, adding that his client was not a flight risk and would not disturb the witnesses.
DPP Afzainizam Abdul Aziz said the safety of the accused during transit to prison from court was not brought up in his affidavit.
Afzainizam said the basis for the bail application was only that it was better for the accused to be out of jail so that he could meet with his counsel.
"The prison has not stopped or barred him from meeting his lawyers," he said.
As for questions Loi raised about the specific offence in the prosecution's narrative, Afzainizam said: "We will give the (relevant) statements during the trial."
"We also have forensics evidence, dashcam and CCTV recordings to show that he (the accused) had driven past the speed limit.
"(Stating) that the accused did not know the victim is irrelevant.
"We can prove that someone has died and the motive is not something we need to show at this point, which will be (argued in) court later during the trial," he added.
The other lawyers in DSP Mohd Nazri's team included Lim Chi Chau, Lim Jin Wen, Cindy Wong and M. Kuhan.
The prosecution team also comprised Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Low Qin Hui.
Also present was lawyer Datuk Wan Azmir Wan Majid, who is holding a watching brief on behalf of the victim’s family.
The trial has been set for 30 days from Nov 4 to 8, Nov 11 to 15, Dec 2 to 6, and Dec 9 to 13 this year, as well as Jan 6 to 10, and Jan 13 to 17 next year.
