Four men have been accused of murdering their colleague at an entertainment centre in Johor Baru and have been charged at the Magistrate’s Court. The accused, Poh Kien Huat, 28, Mohamad Ashiq Othman, 31, Wong Sew Hau, 48, and Lim Wee Huang, 32, acknowledged the charge after it was read to them in front of Magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin on Wednesday (Feb 14).
According to the charge sheet, the four were charged with murder by causing the death of Hah Chun Fai, 24, at the office of an entertainment premises along Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir in Johor Baru, between 2.30am and 11.15am on Feb 4.
The four accused were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Act, which carries a death sentence or a maximum prison term of 40 years and if not sentenced to hanging, must be whipped up to 12 times, if convicted. No plea was recorded from them and no bail was offered. Hidayatul Syuhada then scheduled May 23 for case management.
Meanwhile, in a separate Magistrate’s Court, Poh, together with two more accused Loh Kah Chye, 29, and Lau Ngie Fong, 37, were charged with allegedly locking up the same victim in a room of an entertainment premises along Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2 in Taman Sutera Utama here between 2am and 2.20am on the same date.
They pleaded not guilty to the offence and were charged under Section 342 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Act, which provides for a maximum prison sentence of one year or a fine of up to RM2,000 or both, if convicted. Magistrate Salini then set bail at RM6,000 against Loh and Lau with one surety each, while Poh was not offered bail as he had been earlier charged with murder. She also set March 21 for case management.
Deputy Public Prosecutors R. Nevina and Nur Ameerah Allaudeen prosecuted the two cases while lawyer Chuah Shyue Chien represented all four accused.
