00:00The federal court has upheld the death sentences of a former lawyer and a former farmhand for
00:07the murder of cosmetics tycoon Sosilawati Lawiya and her three aides 14 years ago.
00:13The three-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Tuntengku Maimuntuan Matt, rejected the applications
00:19submitted by N. Pathmanabhan and T. Thilayalagan to review their death sentences on Tuesday.
00:26Meanwhile, another former farmhand, R. Kathavarayan, withdrew his application to review the death
00:33sentence, which the panel subsequently struck out.
00:36This means Kathavarayan's death penalty stays.
00:39The review applications were filed in an attempt to have the death sentences commuted to imprisonment
00:45following the Mandatory Death Penalty Abolition Act 2023, which took effect on July 4 last
00:52year.
00:53In May 2013, Pathmanabhan, Thilayalagan, Kathavarayan, and R. Mattan were convicted by the Shah Alam
01:01High Court for killing Sosilawati, Bank Officer Noor Hisham Mohammad, Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim,
01:08and Sosilawati's driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin.
01:12The murders took place in Tanjung Sepat between 8.30 p.m. and 9.45 p.m. on August 30, 2010.
01:19The appeals were dismissed by the Court of Appeal and Federal Court in December 2015
01:25and March 2017, respectively.
01:28The Federal Court, however, acquitted Mattan after finding there was insufficient evidence
01:33to implicate him in the murders.
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