IPOH, May 20 — A man and four of his friends were charged with murdering his younger brother in Tanjung Rambutan last week, at the Magistrate’s Court here today.

S.K. Siri Sakti Vell, 22, and his friends K. Thirucelvan, 33, Shashipal Singh Manmuhan Singh, 36, N. Thaneshwaran, 24, and P. Ukenthiran, 35, together with one other individual who remains at large, are accused of murdering S.K. Kerisnan, 18.

They allegedly committed the act in the vicinity of the Sri Subramaniar Temple, Jalan Perpaduan Southward, Tanjung Rambutan, between 1 am and 4 am on May 12.

The charge was filed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which carries the death penalty or up to 40 years’ imprisonment, and if not sentenced to death, shall also be liable to no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.

No plea was recorded from any of the men after the charge was read before Magistrate Norizan Riduan, as murder cases fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

Deputy public prosecutor Zarris Sofea Zainudin appeared for the prosecution, while all the accused were unrepresented. The court set July 26 for further case mention.

The media previously reported that a dispute over cable theft is believed to have led to the killing of a teenage boy, whose body was later found inside a car on Jalan Lang Indah A/5 in the area last week. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — The revised Bill for the proposed separation of the Attorney General’s (AG) and Public Prosecutor’s (PP) roles will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on June 22, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today.

Azalina expressed hope that MPs from the federal opposition would support this revised Bill, as a two-thirds majority (148 out of 222 MPs) would be needed for this proposed law change.

“I hope so. Looks quite positive. I hope. Nevertheless, I hope we can have this sitting for June and we can have this constitutional amendment to get the 148,” she told reporters at Parliament here after a bipartisan parliamentary special select committee’s (PSSC) meeting on the Bill.

She was responding to a question on whether MPs in the PSSC have given their commitment on behalf of their political parties to support the Bill.

While Azalina declined to take any questions on political matters, she hoped that politicians would only make decisions after parliamentary proceedings on the revised Bill.

“And I hope any decision to be made by party leaderships can be made after the Parliament sitting.

“I hope it will happen after the constitutional amendment for AG-PP. Not before,” she said, adding: “So I hope the bosses will decide and negotiate.”

MORE TO COME