SHAH ALAM: The atmosphere was suddenly filled with sobbing and tears as Samirah Muzaffar, the widow of Nazrin Hassan, and two teens walked into the courtroom to have their plea recorded on a charge of murdering the former Cradle Fund chief executive officer (CEO).
Samirah, 44, clad in a baju kurung with a cardigan draped on top, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to her first, before High Court judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman, in the packed courtroom.
The boys aged 13 and 16, who were clad in matching hooded sweaters, also pleaded not guilty to the charge that was read separately.
Based on the charge sheets, the trio, together with Indonesian national Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, allegedly committed the crime at a house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13 and 4am on June 14, last year.
The court did not allow bail to the three and fixed April 11 for mention.
Earlier, lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who led the defence for Samirah said he would file an application for his client’s bail on a date that has yet to be fixed.
He also told the court that his client was kept in an isolated dark room at the Kajang women’s prison and asked the court to look into the matter.
“I had an opportunity to visit my client on Saturday, but immediately after the visit, my client was put into a dark and completely isolated room.
“She (Samirah) is a lawyer and would usually jot down some notes on the case, but there (in prison), she was not allowed to bring a pencil and notebook,” he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Jamil Aripin replied that he would inform the prison authorities, but the matter was subject to the rules and regulations of the prison.
He added that the statements of 75 witnesses had been recorded but the prosecution had yet to confirm how many more were going to be called.
“We are not offering bail to the three and we will object to any bail application,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karim maintained a gag order on the media against releasing information which could expose the identities of the boys, both of whom are minors, under Section 15 of the Child Act 2001.
Samirah and the teens were initially charged at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court last week. No plea was recorded from them and the case was later transferred to the High Court, here.
Nazrin’s death had initially been thought as having been caused by an explosion of his mobile phone and subsequent fire in the bedroom of his house.
However, the case was later reclassified as murder after Fire and Rescue Department investigations revealed traces of accelerant present in the bedroom.
Police then detained Samirah and her ex-husband as well as several other people as part of the investigation into Nazrin’s death. They were, however, released after being remanded for a week.
Nazrin’s body was later exhumed for a second post-mortem examination. Police had remained tightlipped over the results of this second examination.