KUCHING: A mechanic from Sibu has become one of the first appellants to escape the gallows for the murder of his friend.
This follows the implementation of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat in April.
Tony Rambor, 45, from Batang Lassa was instead sentenced to 30 years in prison and 12 lashes of the cane by the Federal Court yesterday (Sept 20).
A three-judge panel led by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, said when the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence on the appellant on Feb 14, 2022, the penalty for murder was the mandatory death sentence.
Abang Iskandar said following amendments to the law, the mandatory death penalty was abolished and the court was given the option or discretion to hand down the death penalty or 30 to 40 years in prison and a minimum of 12 lashes for male offenders.
“After considering the mitigation and facts of the case, we use our discretion to substitute (with) a prison sentence of 30 years and 12 lashes on Tony,” he said.
The other two judges on the panel were Datuk Rhozariah Bujang and Datuk Nordin Hassan.
The court also ordered him to serve the prison sentence effective from the date of his arrest on June 28, 2017.
Tony was found guilty by the Sibu High Court on Dec 11, 2018 for killing his friend at a house in Sibu, around 8pm on June 27, 2017.
He had stood charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carried the mandatory death sentence, if convicted.
On the day of the incident, Tony and the victim (both colleagues) got together with other friends to have fun while drinking alcohol beverages.
As the night wore on, one of the witnesses heard the victim saying to Tony something along the lines ‘enti dik nadai duit anang mayuh jakok’, which means ‘if you don’t have money, don’t talk much’.
Tony then got furious and hit the victim with a stick before throwing him into a nearby drain.
The incident was witnessed by two people, who wanted to try help the victim, but they were afraid of Tony and walked back home instead.
The next day, the discovery of the body was made by the public together with a blood stained stick leading to the arrest of two witnesses and Tony.
Deputy public prosecutor Asmah Musa prosecuted the case while, Tony was represented by court-appointed counsel namely Abdul Rahman Mohamad Hazmi, Christopher Bada Stanley Nyitar and Nur Azureen Zainudin.
