THE High Court will deliver its verdict tomorrow on a retraction plea by a man charged with causing grievious hurt and culpable homicide not amounting to murder of a two-year-old girl.
The presiding judge, Justice Dato Paduka Steven Chong yesterday told Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhana Sudin and Defence counsel Rozaiman Abdul Rahman, who is representing the defendant, Mohammad Zini Sulaiman, that he just received the submission and would deliver his verdict on Thursday.
Zini withdrew his guilty pleas for causing grievious hurt and culpable homicide not amounting to murder after his lawyer claimed that the defendant was pressured to plead guilty to the charges by two senior police officers who repeatedly told him he caused the death of the toddler.
The defendant, however, maintained his guilty plea for abusing the victim, who was the youngest daughter of his live-in girlfriend.
Two police officers had denied to putting pressure on the defendant to plead guilty to the charges.
Zini has been in remand since December 16, 2011, after a police arrest was made following a nurse reporting the death of the two-year-old girl.
If convicted of all three charges, Zini faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison with caning and a $20,000 fine.
The Brunei Times
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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