PUTRAJAYA: A former member of the Malaysian Volunteer Corps will serve a 30-year prison sentence for fatally shooting his best friend, former Marang MCA chief Fong Swee Fuan, and 13 years for the attempted murder of the deceased’s nephew, Teo Hock Beng, in 2021.
The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel led by Datuk Hashim Hamzah, with Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril, dismissed Ong Chow Lee’s appeal against the 30-year jail sentence handed down by the Kuala Terengganu High Court for murder.
Ong, 61, was sentenced to jail after he changed his plea to guilty last year.
He had previously claimed trial to the charges under Sections 302 and 307 of the Penal Code.
The jail sentences are to run concurrently from his arrest on July 23, 2021.
The judges had dismissed Ong’s defence lawyer’s argument for a retrial, claiming that the High Court judge had erred when he failed to ensure that his client understood the nature and consequences of his guilty plea.
The defence contended that Ong had entered a guilty plea after being told by a previous lawyer that he faced 15-years in jail instead of the minimum 30 for murder.
The lawyer had argued that his client was illiterate and that the court should have provided a Mandarin interpreter on that day.
However, Hashim said they did not find merit in Ong’s appeal after hearing submissions from the prosecution and defence and considering the records of appeal and court notes.
He said Section 178 of the Criminal Procedure Code warrants the court to ensure that the charge is read and explained to an accused, asked if he is guilty of the offence charged or claims to be tried; and to ascertain that the accused understands the nature and consequences of his plea.
“After reviewing the full appeal record, especially the court notes, we are satisfied that the High Court judge complied with this provision before accepting and recording the accused’s guilty plea,” he said.
The 17-page grounds of judgment dated Sept 2 bore the transcript of the proceedings where the court was recorded to have asked whether a Mandarin interpreter was needed to avoid arising issues.
The court interpreter had asked Ong if he understood Bahasa Malaysia, to which he said yes.
Asked if he needed a Mandarin interpreter, Ong said no.
The court had also asked Ong if he wanted the charge to be read in Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or both, he answered Bahasa Malaysia.
He said he understood Mandarin but chose to have the charge read out in Bahasa Malaysia.
He had also acknowledged the facts of the case and identified all case exhibits.
Hashim said the notes clearly showed that the High Court judge had asked the defence lawyer and the accused himself several times on the language preferred and he chose Bahasa Malaysia.
“We are of the opinion that there was no misdirection by the High Court judge.
“The accused was represented by three defence lawyers on July 9 last year when his guilty plea was recorded.
“If there were issues with his guilty plea, for sure his lawyers would have raised the issue, but it did not happen.
“Based on notes, there was no indication that the accused did not understand the nature and consequences of his plea or his plea was conditional, as argued by the lawyer during the appeal hearing.
“Therefore, we find the issue raised by the defence lawyer baseless and must be dismissed.
“The conviction is safe and the jail term handed down is the minimum as provided by the law,” he said.
Lawyer Mohd Kamaruzaman A. Wahab acted for Ong in the appeal.
The prosecution, as respondent, was represented by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari.
The facts of the case read that about 1.55pm on July 23, 2021, Fong’s sibling informed the Wakaf Tapai police station in Marang he had been shot dead at Taman Raya Wakaf Tapai while Teo sustained a gunshot wound to his left arm.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
