23 October 2008 :

citing incomplete investigations and insufficient evidence, the Malaysian Federal Court set aside the murder conviction and death sentence of a former security guard. Mohd Abbas Danus Baksan was found guilty of raping and murdering 10-year-old Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani in Johor four years ago. Baksan was instead sentenced to 20 years in jail after pleading guilty at the Johor Baru Sessions Court. Abbas, 52, was spared 24 strokes of the rotan due to his age. Judge Tan Sri Zaki Azmi, who delivered the unanimous judgment, said there appeared to be a third person at the crime scene. "Once it was proved that a third person was involved, it is not possible to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that it was the appellant who caused the death of the victim." Zaki said the circumstantial evidence adduced by the prosecution did not irresistibly point to the guilt of Abbas. "The investigation of the case was incomplete. There was a gap in the prosecution's case." Zaki sat with Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sherif and Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamad on the three-man bench. Nurul Huda was raped, sodomised and strangled at a Tenaga Nasional Berhad guardhouse in Kampung Pekajang, Tanjung Kupang, Johor, between 9.20am and 1pm on January 17, 2004. Abbas was employed there. Abbas was sentenced to death on August 27, 2004, by the Johor Baru High Court. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on July 3, 2006.