A panel of three judges led by Vernon Ong unanimously turned down the final appeal of Mohamad Zulkifli Ismail, 56, saying they were satisfied that the findings of the High Court were complete and thorough.

“The court is of the view that the High Court judge did not err in law and fact in making the decision. The issues raised by the appellant have no merit,” said Ong, who sat with Abdul Rahman Sebli and Zabariah Mohd Yusof.

The panel of three judges made the decision after hearing the arguments of counsel Ariff Azami Hussein, who represented Zulkifli, and deputy public prosecutor Nahra Dollah.

Zulkifli was convicted and sentenced to death by the Kuala Terengganu High Court in May last year for the murder of Zulkefle Abdullah, 37, in a house in Kampung Labohan at 10.30am on Dec 7, 2015.

The High Court on May 27, 2018 also sentenced Zulkifli to 14 years in jail for causing serious injuries to a person with disabilities, Faizul Awang, 37, at the same time, day and place, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 10, 2019.

In today’s proceedings, Ariff Azami told the court that Zulkifli was withdrawing his appeal on the conviction and sentence for causing hurt and was only proceeding with the appeal on the murder case.

According to the facts of the case, both victims had stopped at Zulkifli’s house after finding scrap metal in the area when he suddenly dashed towards Zulkefle and stabbed him in the chest and injured Faizul with a parang.

The murder case went viral on social media when Zulkifli alleged he had acted in self-defence against both victims who were attempting to rob him.

It led to the setting up of a “Save Zulkifli” group on Facebook, which had 71,000 followers. The group also posted various negative statements disputing police in arresting Zulkifli and during the court proceedings.