Death of colleague: 3 navy men go on trial
Published on: Thursday, March 05, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Three Malay navy personnel from the peninsula went on trial here Wednesday for causing the death of their local colleague.The case of Muhammad Zainrudin Nordin, Mohd Hood Mad Hasib, both 26, and Muhammad Fadli Zaini, 25, is being heard by Sessions Court Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad.Zainrudin, of Kajang, Selangor, Hood from Kulai, Johor and Fadli from Melaka are accused of committing culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of one Asrup Raidin, aged 27.
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The crime allegedly took place at 7.36pm on Dec 3, 2013 at the naval base in Lagun Station (Terumbu Ubi), Labuan.If found guilty under Section 304 of the Penal Code, they could be punished with a jail term of up to 30 years and a fine.The prosecution's first witness, Lance Corporal Nur Alimi Saadan, a photographer, testified that he was ordered by investigating officer Inspector Penyi Ripis to take photos of the crime scene, re-enact the incident and take sample photos of training.He said he took all the photos during his visit to the crime scene on Dec 20, 2013 at the Lagun Station (Terumbu Ubi) in Labuan together with Penyi, one Assistant Superintendent of Police Mohd Amy and one Dr Ganesan Durairajah.
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Alimi said the crime scene photos, among others, showed the entrance towards the Lagun station, the whole view of the crime scene, distance from the crime scene and the boat CD 90, the place where Asrup allegedly banged his head on a mirror until his head bled, a room where Asrup was brought after banging his head and the platform where he was ordered to jump from into the waters and the boat used to bring Asrup to Station 5 after he was pronounced dead.And for the re-enactment photos, he took pictures, namely, where Mohd Hood had allegedly pressed Asrup's shoulder into the water, the distance from where Asrup was left to swim alone after he was allegedly submerged into the river, the process to bring up Asrup to the CD 90 after he drowned and the action of one Johnny opening Asrup's mouth as he wanted to give Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on Asrup.
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As for the sample training photos, Alimi said among the photos were on sit-up poses, flatter-kick, bicycle kick, push-up, half-squat and star jumping.Alimi told the court that he provided 15 photos on the crime scene and re-enactment each and eight pieces on sample training photos. He added that he had put captions on each photo based on instructions from Penyi.To a question from Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Effizah Ernie Idris, who was assisted by DPP Aida Jafar Mad Ariff, Alimi said he was not sure who acted for the re-enactment session photos but he said it was obviously the navy personnel on duty and that Penyi had instructed the navy personnel to re-enact the incident.According to Alimi, he together with the team went to the crime scene on the ration plane which is used to send food to personnel on duty in Terumbuk Ubi station.He said they took 24 hours to arrive at the Pulau Layang-Layangan from the Sepanggar Navy Base and after arriving at the said island, they used another plane, the name of which he did not know and continued their journey to Terumbuk Ubi station where the alleged crime occurred.Alimi further told the court that the police report was lodged on Dec 4, 2013.During cross-examination by counsel Ram Singh who appeared together with counsel YS Lo and Timothy Daut in representing Zainrudin, Hood, and Fadli, Alimi agreed that the post mortem on Asrup's body was conducted before they visited the crime scene.To a question from Ram, Alimi said he started to capture photos at about 5pm and before that he was given a brief by Penyi and a navy personnel on duty at the station.Alimi also told the court that he was informed by Penyi about the alleged incident about which he (Penyi) had got information from a witness who saw the said incident. He disagreed with Ram that there was no reason for Dr Ganesan to be at the crime scene after the latter conducted the post mortem on Asrup's body at 10.45am on Dec 4, 2013.Alimi said Dr Ganesan went to the crime scene because he wanted to see for himself the condition at the crime scene, to establish whether it was similar with what he found on Asrup's body while conducting the post mortem. To another question, Alimi agreed with Ram that the distance from where Asrup drowned and the CD 90 boat, which was pointed out by the three navy men at the crime scene, was 12.4 feet.Referring to one of the photos showing the three accused on the boat, Alimi disagreed with Ram that the witness who saw the incident did not see what took place in the water at a distance of 12.4 feet.According to Alimi, he knew that Asrup had knocked his head on the mirror after being informed by the witness who saw the incident.He also disagreed with Ram that during the training, Hood and Asrup went together into the water on Dec 3, 2013 and that he was not sure whether Zainrudin and Fadli were at the scene while they gave training to Asrup.Alimi disagreed that he made up a story while typing the caption on the photo about the distance Asrup was left to swim alone after the accused allegedly submerged him in the water.He said he did not put the accused's names on the said photo because he did not know who was who.To another question from Ram, Alimi said he was not sure of the condition of Asrup, whether his mouth was closed and his teeth clenched, when he was brought up to the platform and boat.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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