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The Court docket of Enchantment on Thursday upheld the choice made by Royal Brunei Armed Forces’ courtroom martial in sentencing its personnel to twenty years’ jail and eight whippings on a number of expenses of sodomy and sexual assault of fellow personnel in the course of the first-of-its-kind listening to.
Awang Mohammad Khairul Hazwan bin Haji Maidin, who was a captain on the time, pleaded responsible on March 21 earlier than the courtroom martial to sodomising three personnel aged between 19 and 20 and sexually assaulting 13 personnel aged between 19 and 23 between January 2020 and July 2021.
Decide advocate Muhammed Faisal bin PDJ DSP Haji Kefli and 6 different army officers discovered the mitigating circumstances of the case had been outweighed by aggravating elements, and thus believed in a sentence that carried a robust deterrent message to the Forces in addition to the general public.
The choose advocate stated the case had induced irreparable harm to the popularity of the Forces via “a breach of belief of the worst type”. As such the martial courtroom was “much less inclined to err on the aspect of leniency”.
In the meantime, the previous captain appealed in opposition to the convictions earlier than Chief Justic Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong in addition to Justices Michael Peter Burrell and Conrad Seagroatt.
In accordance with Awang Mohammad Khairul Hazwan’s counsels, the primary cost, which might have been dedicated earlier than March 21, 2020, was time-barred, based on Part 119(1) of the RBAF Act, which states: “No individual shall be tried by courtroom martial for any offence… until the trial is begun inside three years after the fee of the offence, there being disregarded any time throughout which he was a prisoner of battle and any time throughout which he was unlawful absent.”
Irregularities had been additionally raised on all of the remaining expenses regarding proof referring to the victims’ identities, claiming that it could have misled the previous captain, amounting to a miscarriage of justice.
Aided by the RBAF, the three-member justices discovered the Court docket Martial’s convictions to be “acceptable”.
The Court docket of Enchantment additionally discovered Awang Mohammad Khairul Hazwan to be absolutely accountable for his actions and information of the victims with none uncertainties up till sentencing. – Fadley Faisal
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