BAHAU: Six remand prisoners, being investigated for murder and drug trafficking offences, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of escaping from the Jelebu Drug Rehabilitation Institute on April 10,.
Sohaimi Khalid, 50, Mohd Zairizan Zainal, 42, Shazuan Md Sharif, 32, Mazlan Samah, 39, Mohammad Aminuddin Khan Mohd Yusof, 28 and Zainuddin, 62, who is an Indonesian, claimed trial to the charge before magistrate Muhammad Hidayat Wahab.
The six allegedly committed the offence around 2pm on the said day.
They were jointly charged under Section 224 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same legislation.
Offenders can be jailed up to two years or fined or both, upon conviction.
In asking the court not to allow bail, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Loqman Hakim Ahmad Khairie said the suspects were facing other non-bailable offences under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act and Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
The court then denied the suspects bail and fixed May 12 for mention.
The police had earlier said that the six, with another individual still at large, were believed to have escaped through a hole in the ceiling in the facility’s Muhasabah 2 block, and later through another hole in the fence that was believed to have been made with wire cutters.
Sohaimi was the first to be rearrested around 7pm the same day.
He was found hiding in an oil palm smallholding in Kangkoi, some two kilometres from the institute which is located within the Jelebu prison.
Mohd Zairizan Zainal was caught the following morning in Kg Petasih Tengah in Pertang while Shazuan Md Sharif was the third to be caught in Sg Muntoh in Titi on April 12.
Zainuddin was captured along with Mazlan and Mohammad Aminuddin Khan in a jungle along Jalan Purun in Kuala Klawang on April 13.
Zairizan is the only one facing a murder charge.
With the arrests, only one more prisoner – Muhammad Syafiq Rohmat, also known as Umai – is still at large.