Azmi Abu Bakar, Bahauddin Ab Rasid and Norbuangani Mislan pleaded not guilty after the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was read before Kota Tinggi sessions court judge Hayda Faridzal Abu Hasan.
Azmi is a major, Bahauddin is a captain while Norbuangani is a warrant officer, Harian Metro reported.
They were accused of causing such bodily injury to Syamsul as was likely to cause death at the Ulu Tiram Utara shooting range in Kota Tinggi, Johor, between 2pm and 3pm on July 28, 2025.
The charge, under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code read with Section 34 for jointly committing the offence, is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine upon conviction.
While culpable homicide is a non-bailable offence, the prosecution suggested that the court fix bail at RM50,000 for each accused if it decided to use its discretion to allow the trio to post bail.
Johor prosecution director Abdul Ghafar Ab Latif and deputy public prosecutor Nor Afiqah Musa also applied for the instructors to surrender their passports to the court.
The three accused, who were not represented by a lawyer, asked for a lower bail amount, saying they had wives and children to look after.
Azmi, who earns RM9,000 a month, said he had a wife and three children, including one who was born just three weeks ago.
Bahauddin said he had an unemployed wife and a two-year-old son, and earned only RM4,000 a month. Norbuangani said he earned RM3,000 monthly and had a wife and three children.
The sessions court initially fixed bail at RM25,000 and ordered them to surrender their passports.
Azmi then pleaded with the court to further reduce the bail amount, saying they had served with the armed forces for years and had clean disciplinary records.
The judge eventually decided to reduce the bail amount to RM20,000. He set April 13 for case mention and the appointment of lawyers.
Syamsul, 22, the eldest of three siblings, died on July 28 last year under unclear circumstances while undergoing training at the Army Combat Training Centre in Ulu Tiram, Johor.
He began training on July 26 and was expected to finish on Aug 3.
The case was classified as sudden death but, on Dec 2, the Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered the police to probe Syamsul’s death as a murder after reviewing the findings of their investigation.