Man in M'sia who beheaded colleague gets life sentence commuted to 35 years' jail
In August 1994, palm oil estate worker Francis Anthonysamy beheaded his Bangladeshi colleague Ali Ahammed Mohammed Ullah at the Kim Swee Leong oil palm plantation in Pahang, Malaysia.
Francis had been advised by a bomoh to carry out the act if he wanted to win the lottery. He got Mr Ali intoxicated and cut his head off with a parang.
The High Court in Temerloh in Pahang sentenced Francis to death on Oct 21, 1996. Francis has been behind bars for 30 years.
He tried to get the sentence overturned in 2002 and 2005 but failed.
However, Malaysia in July 2023 abolished the mandatory death penalty. The abolition grants judges "the discretion of imposing prison sentences of between 30 and 40 years in place of the death penalty for serious crimes including murder, treason, kidnapping, terrorist acts, and drug trafficking".
Following his review application, Francis' death sentence has been commuted to 35 years' jail.
Lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail argued that his client did not carry out a terrorist attack and his crime involved only one victim.
Francis, now 52, was one of the 17 prisoners aged between 45 and 63 whose death sentences and natural life imprisonment sentences were commuted to jail sentences of between 30 years and 35 years, according to Bernama.
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