SHAH ALAM: Samirah Muzaffar, the accused in the murder of former Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd CEO Nazrin Hassan, today failed in her bid to be released on bail at the High Court, here.
Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman made the decision after hearing arguments from defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and deputy public prosecutor Datuk Jamil Aripin.
Ab Karim in his judgment said the court took into account the severity of the charge against Samirah, 44, in which the crime carries the death penalty upon conviction, apart from the possibility of witness tampering.
He said that the case was one that involved a family and the witnesses may be related, therefore the chances of the accused disturbing the witnesses were high.
"If one were to argue that the witnesses could go to prison (to visit the accused), this argument is not valid because prison visits are subjected to rules," he said.
On attorney-client matters, Ab Karim said the accused was allowed to meet her counsel for 45 minutes a week, subjected to prison rules.
"It is impossible that the accused is not able to prepare her defence," he said, noting that despite the 45 minute limit," he said.
Earlier, Muhammad Shafee argued that his client was not free to communicate with her counsel.
He said as an educated person, and a lawyer herself, Samirah had written instructions to be given to her defence team. However, her letters were vetted by the Prisons Department, Muhammad Shafee said. He also claimed that his defence team did not receive her letters of instructions.
Ab Karim said although the letters were vetted, it was just partial and he expressed confidence that the message was still conveyed.
Jamil in his counter argument said the accused was still able to meet her lawyer and deliver her instructions personally, stressing that Samirah had never been denied the right to do so.
In the same proceeding, Ab Karim fixed June 21 for case management.
On March 12, Samirah along with two other teenage boys pleaded not guilty at the High Court to murdering Nazrin.
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 at the time did not allow bail to the three.
However last month, the two teens were released with RM50,000 bails, respectively.
The court allowed the bail after allowing an application by the teenagers' biological father.