The Kuantan High Court today sentenced to death two followers of cult leader Harun Mat Saat, better known as 'Tuhan Harun', after they were found guilty of murdering Pahang Islamic Religious Department's (Jaip) Enforcement Division principal assistant director, Ahmad Raffli Abd Malek, three years ago.

Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Abdul Rahman handed out the sentence against Sumustapha Suradi, 41, and Shamsinar Abdul Halim, 39, after he was satisfied with the evidence given by the victim's wife and child who identified them as the individuals who shot the victim.

Sumustapha and Shamsinar were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murdering Raffli Ahmad, 49, at house No 7, Lorong IM 2/29, Bandar Indera Mahkota, at 1.50pm on Nov 10, 2013.

Both the accused, who were clad in white T-shirts and pants, looked calm and showed no reaction to the sentence meted out by Ab Karim after reading out the judgment for 30 minutes.

During the proceeding, Abdul Karim acquitted Harun's third wife Azida Mohd Zol, 33, their driver Shaizral Eddie Nizam Shaari, 40, and cult follower Jefferi Safar, 39, on charges of conspiring to commit the murder at the same place, time and date.

Harun was also charged with conspiring in the murder.

However, the charge against him was dropped on Aug 26, after he died at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, Kuantan on Aug 16 due to respiratory problems.

In his judgment, Ab Karim said there were reasonable doubts on whether there was a conspiracy to kill Ahmad Raffli among the accused, as all communication taking place were between Azida and the 14th prosecution witness, Syed Azlan
Syed Abu Bakar or 'Arab', via the short-message service (SMS) and phone calls.

"The failure to examine the existence of these SMS texts had raised doubts on the conspiracy as alleged by Arab that he had received instructions from Harun that God had commanded him to eliminate a JAIP official for not performing
his duties in a just manner," he said.

Ab Karim said much of Arab's testimony also depended on his understanding of the instructions received from Harun at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, while Azida claimed that her husband had speech problems after suffering a stroke.

He said Azida also admitted in her testimony that it was difficult to understand Harun's speech so much so he had to sometimes repeat what he said or had to communicate in writing for confirmation.

Ab Karim further said that although they were in the same room when Arab was said to have received instructions from Harun, Azida's testimony was that she did not hear Harun giving clear instructions on committing the murder.

"Evidence also shows that Arab had told the fourth accused (Shaizral Eddie Nizam) that they should make an inquiry on Jaip officers, after which the fourth accused found four names upon looking up the Internet.

"The victim was one of the names identified, and he was selected as the target of a death sentence for accusing the cult members of being deviant without any checking."

Ab Karim said the original plan was to run over Ahmad Raffli with a vehicle, however, on checking the Kuantan area, the method was found to be unsuitable, prompting Arab to say that the use of firearms was allowed to ensure the divine command was executed immediately.

"In this case, the court was made to understand that what was said by Harun depended on Arab's interpretation.

"From the evidence, the court finds that Arab was not only an accomplice, but the one who planned everything until the murder took place," he said.

For the record, Arab, a singer and composer famed for his song 'Bila Bulan Berwarna Biru' died of a heart attack on Nov 12 at a private hospital in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.

After the judgment was read out, Azida, Shaizral and Jefferi who sat in the dock, showed no reaction, while their family members shed tears of joy and hugged each other.

During the trial, the court heard testimonies from 54 prosecution witnesses while the defence, represented by lawyers Hermes Putra Media Ibrahim, Amer Hamzah Arshad and Mohammad Naim Mahmud, presented 10 witnesses.

DPP Khamizah Salleh and Nurul Farahah Mohd Suah appeared for the prosecution.

- Bernama