A LAWYER told the Court of Appeal today there was insufficient evidence to sustain the charge against his client for the murder of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais.

Lawyer Kitson Foong, who is representing S. Ravi Chandaran, one of the six men convicted for killing Morais, said an accomplice who turned prosecution witness merely testified that an abduction had taken place and did not touch on Morais’ murder.

He said the charge against his client should have been for kidnapping under section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 and not for murder under section 302 of the penal code.

He also said the 11 grounds the High Court judge used to sustain the murder charge did not support the offence of murder but appeared to corroborate that an abduction had taken place.

Foong also said the prosecution tried to get the 54th witness – G. Gunasekaran – to give evidence relating to the murder but he never said so.

Gunasekaran was initially charged with the six men with killing Morais but the charge was later withdrawn after he pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court to a charge of disposing of the body of the deceased. He was sentenced to two years’ jail from September 15, 2015, the date of his arrest. He was then called as a prosecution witness.

Foong also argued that Gunasekaran’s evidence ought to be corroborated in light of his active participation in the purported commission of the offence. He said the High Court had also found Gunasekaran to be an accomplice in the purported commission of the murder.

He said the findings of High Court judge Azman Abdullah (now Court of Appeal judge) that Gunasekaran’s evidence was corroborated were tantamount to a serious misdirection.

He said Gunasekaran’s active role as an accomplice would raise the likelihood of him fabricating or embellishing his evidence in favour of the prosecution for self-preservation, which in turn necessitates his evidence to be corroborated.

“The High Court judge erred in law and in fact in ruling that there was common intention of all the six accused persons to murder Morais,” Foong submitted before the three-member panel comprising Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Azmi Ariffin in the appeal by the six against their convictions and death sentences for the murder.

The High Court had, on July 10, 2020, sentenced former military doctor Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 60; Ravi Chandaran, a former money lender, 52; and four other individuals – unemployed R. Dinishwaran, 31; A.K. Thinesh Kumar, 30; M. Vishwanath, 33; and S. Nimalan, 30 – after finding them guilty of murdering Morais.

The offence was committed somewhere along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on September 4, 2015.

Morais, 55, was reported missing on September 4, 2015. He was last seen leaving his apartment at Menara Duta in Kuala Lumpur in a Proton Perdana. His body was found in an oil drum filled with cement at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, on September 16, 2015.

Earlier, the court also heard submissions from Nimalan’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who argued that the murder conviction of his client by the High Court was unsafe as his client only showed the location where the drum containing Morais’ body was disposed of but he did not know the content of the drum.

He said at best, the charge against his client should be for abduction of the deceased or disposing of evidence but certainly not to murder the deceased.

Lawyer N. Sivananthan represented Kunaseegaran, M. Manoharan acted for Dinishwaran, Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid for Thinesh Kumar and Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi for Vishwanath while deputy public prosecutors Dusuki Mokhtar, Mohd Fairuz Johari and Mohd Fuad Abdul Aziz appeared for the prosecution.

Hearing resumes on December 14. – Bernama, December 7, 2023.