Thirteen male students from a vocational college in Lahad Datu pleaded not guilty at the Tawau High Court today to a charge of murdering a fellow student.
The charge against the teenagers, aged between 16 and 19, was read before judge Duncan Sikodol, who then set the trial for Nov 18 to 22 and Nov 25 to 29.
The students were jointly accused of murdering Mohamad Nazmie Aizzat Mohd Narul Azwan, 17, in Dormitory Room 7 Resak and 5 Belian at Lahad Datu Vocational College between 9pm on March 21 and 7.38am the following day.
The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years and not more than 12 strokes of the rotan.
On March 22, Nazmie was found dead in a dormitory room at the college, with multiple injuries and bruises on his body.
Deputy public prosecutors Mohd Suhaimi Suryana and Hurman Hussain appeared for the prosecution.
Lawyers Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki, Ram Singh and Chen Wen Jye represented nine of the accused, while lawyer Abdul Ghani Zelika represented one.
The remaining three accused were unrepresented.
Suhaimi said the prosecution would call 10 to 12 witnesses to testify during the trial.
On April 2, the 13 students were charged at the Lahad Datu Magistrate’s Court with murdering Nazmie, and the case was subsequently transferred to the High Court on July 25.