Qarim Abdul Razak, 42, changed his plea after the optional charge under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing death by negligence was read to him by an interpreter before Justice Hassan Abdul Ghani.

As soon as the accused changed his plea, the court adjourned the proceedings for over an hour and both the prosecution and the defence were seen trying to communicate with Qarim.

After the trial resumed, the judge allowed a request from lawyer Mazlan Zain from the National Legal Aid Foundation, representing the accused, to have an interpreter read the original charge to Qarim.

In the proceedings on July 29, Qarim pleaded guilty to causing the death of Abdul Khalid Abdul Hadir at Jalan Pak Madah, Bukit Payung, Marang, at 11.20pm on March 18, 2017, along with three of his friends who had been sentenced.

Today’s proceedings were previously scheduled by Hassan for remention for the facts and sentence.

Under the original charge, Qarim was charged with murder by causing the death of the victim under Section 302 of the Penal Code. Qarim pleaded not guilty to this charge today.

Accordingly, Mazlan applied to withdraw from the case hearing due to health factors.

“Because the accused has chosen not to plead guilty in accordance with Section 302 of the Penal Code, I request to be released from representing the accused due to health factors.

“I request that the court appoint a new lawyer. All the related documents have been submitted to the prosecution,” he said.

The prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutor Amer Abu Bakar Abdullah and Khairuddin Idris. The court fixed Oct 7 for the case to be mentioned again.