A 41-year-old unemployed man has failed in his final attempt to overturn his 35-year prison sentence and 24 strokes of the rotan for murdering his younger brother and aunt nine years ago.
A three-judge Federal Court bench led by Datuk Nordin Hassan unanimously dismissed the final appeal brought by Azman Wahab, whose conviction and sentence were previously upheld by the Court of Appeal on Nov 14 last year.
“The court rejects the appellant’s application to introduce new evidence. The appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence is dismissed,” Nordin said in delivering the decision. The other judges on the panel were Datuk Seri Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh.
Earlier, Azman’s lawyer, Ai Cha Ran, sought to adduce three case-related reports as fresh evidence. However, deputy public prosecutor Siti Rafidah Zainuddin objected, arguing the documents did not qualify as new evidence because they had already been produced during the original trial.
Azman was initially convicted by the Alor Setar High Court on Aug 25, 2022, of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code and sentenced to 16 years in prison. However, on Nov 14, 2024, the Court of Appeal allowed the prosecution’s appeal and substituted the charge with murder, ruling that the prosecution’s arguments had merit.
He was found guilty of killing his younger brother, Muhammad Azwan, 26, inside the living room of their home in Kampung Lanai, Parit Panjang, Baling, Kedah, at 11am on Oct 2, 2016. He was also convicted of murdering his aunt, Rokiah Abdullah, 54, outside the same house about 10 minutes later.
Both offences fall under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries either the death penalty or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years and up to 12 strokes of the rotan.
