The High Court here today ordered the release of a married couple who was remanded for investigation into the death of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan in a fire in June this year.
Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman made the order after allowing an application by lawyer LS Leonard, representing the couple, who is Nazrin’s sister-in-law and her husband, against the four-day remand order issued by Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court assistant registrar Hairul Azhar Mohd Ishak last Monday.
The remand order against the woman and her husband, aged 39 and 41, respectively, was supposed to expire tomorrow.
“The remand period was too long and police didn’t give a good reason for their arrest
“To remand them for that period, there have to be relevant and solid grounds. Any further action, as stated in the grounds given by the police to remand the couple, can be done without the presence of the suspects,” Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman said.
“As such, the application for a review against the remand order issued by the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court (assistant) registrar is revised and both of them (suspects) are ordered to be released after office hour at 5pm today,” he added.
Earlier, Leonard submitted that there was no necessity for both his clients to be held in remand since they had cooperated with the police which had also recorded their statements.
“Among the grounds given by the police to remand my clients is to investigate whether they were responsible for spreading the message that said Nazrin’s death was due to handphone explosion, when they (police) knew that it was not them who did it,” said Leonard, who was assisted by lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
The prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli, submitted that the decision by the Magistrate’s Court in issuing the four-day remand order against the married couple was valid and in line with Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Prior to this, the police had also detained Nazrin’s wife, her ex-husband and the deceased’s two step-sons to facilitate investigation of the case.
Nazrin was found dead after his room at his home in Mutiara Damansara, caught fire on June 14.
Initial reports said the fire may have been caused by his exploding mobile phone, which was charging by his bedside.
However, following a report by the Fire and Rescue department, as well as results of the post-mortem examination, the case was later classified as murder.
Related report: Sept 24, Sis-in-Law and Husband Arrested in Cradle CEO Murder Probe