Crime & Courts

Suspected KLIA gunman claims trial to attempted murder on his wife

SEPANG: The suspected Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) gunman, Hafizul Hawari pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder on his wife and voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon on her bodyguard on Apr 14.

The 38-year-old company manager, who was calm while he stood in the dock, claimed trial to the charges before Sessions Court judge Dr Azrol Abdullah.

Hafizul, clad in a black T-shirt and orange pants, said he understood both charges levelled against him.

On the first charge, he was accused of attempted murder on his wife, Farah Md Isa, 38, at KLIA Terminal 1.

On the second charge, he was accused of voluntarily causing grievous hurt on Mohd Nur Hadith Zaini, 38, by using a pistol which could have caused death.

He committed both offences at about 1.09am at the airport's arrival hall.

The charge under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder carries a jail term up to 10 years; fine and imprisonment up to 20 years if the act had caused hurt.

The charge under Section 326 of the same code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt provides a jail term up to 20 years; fine or whipping.

Selangor prosecution director Ku Hayati Ku Haron did not offer bail.

She said this as Hafizul had also been charged at the Kota Baru Sessions Court yesterday under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 and bail was denied.

In mitigation, Hafizul's counsel, Muhammad Naim Mahmud, pleaded that his client has the right to get bail and the court has the power and discretion to do so for any accused.

"He has aged parents who need attentive care and he has seven young children.

"When he was arrested and the media covered him at the Kota Baru court, the accused had said he still loves his wife," he said.

In reply, Ku Hayati insisted on no bail for the accused.

"The victim in the first charge is his wife.

"When he was arrested in Kota Baru, police investigations showed he wanted to leave the country through illegal borders in Kelantan.

"We believe the accused is a flight risk. We ask for bail not to be offered," she said.

Judge Azrol dismissed Naim's bail application.

"After hearing the submissions, I found that both charges are serious offences. Any bail application must be considered thoroughly.

"The court found there is no strong reason to grant bail on the accused. The bail application is dismissed," he ruled.

The court set June 11 for mention.

Ku Hayati was assisted by deputy public prosecutors Mohd Mukhzany Fariz Mohd Mokhtar and Nor Shazwani Abdullah.

Naim was assisted by co-counsel Mohammad Shafik Mohammad Lazim.

Earlier, Hafizul arrived at the court complex at 8.15am under heavy security presence.

Yesterday, he claimed trial to seven charges at the Kota Baru Sessions Court.

On the first offence, he was charged under Section 8 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 with possession of Glock 19 Austria made in Turkey inside a Honda Civic with the registration number WXW3317 at KPJ Perdana Specialist Hospital at 2pm on Apr 15.

The other charges included possession of 33 bullets without licence under the Arms Act 1960 and possession of a packet of fireball firecrackers without permit under the Explosives Act 1957.

He was also charged with possession of identity cards of three different individuals under the National Registration Regulations 1990 and the Road Transport Act 1987 for using fake registration plates on the Honda Civic.

No bail was offered by the prosecuting officers for the first to the third charges, but for the fourth to seventh charges, the judge allowed Hafizul to be released on RM10,000 bail with one surety for each charge.

On April 14, Hafizul allegedly fired two shots at Farah, who was his intended victim but one had hit her bodyguard.

He fled the scene and was arrested in Kota Baru the next day.

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