SINGAPORE: One of the two suspects in the 2007 disappearance of Ms Felicia Teo Wei Ling has appealed to secure a discharge amounting to an acquittal for her murder.
Court records show that lawyers for Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa’ee, 37, filed the appeal on Friday (Jul 8). He is represented by Mr Shashi Nathan, Ms Tania Chin and Ms Laura Yeo.
At a hearing last month, Ahmad Danial was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the murder of Ms Teo, which is a capital offence.
This means that he can still be prosecuted for her alleged murder in the future should there be developments in the case, such as the emergence of new evidence.
If he successfully appeals for a discharge amounting to an acquittal, he cannot be charged for the same offence again.
Ms Teo, who would be 34 this year, was reported missing on Jul 3, 2007 and later presumed dead.
Ahmad Danial was originally charged with murdering Ms Teo between 1.39am and 7.20am on Jun 30, 2007 at a flat in Block 19, Marine Terrace with suspected accomplice Ragil Putra Setia Sukmarahjana, who is at large.
He was given the murder charge in December 2020. Last month, the prosecution substituted it with six charges for lesser offences and offered him bail.
At the time, Mr Nathan had argued a discharge not amounting to an acquittal meant that the murder charge would hang over his client’s head for “an indeterminate time”.
Prosecutors told the court then that the main reason they were applying for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal was because Mr Ragil was still at large.
Ahmad Danial’s current charges include leaving Ms Teo’s body around Punggol Track 24 as well as misappropriating her phone and other belongings on or around Jun 30, 2007.
He is accused of intentionally omitting to give information about Ms Teo’s sudden or unnatural death to the police, when he was legally bound to do so.
He allegedly fabricated false evidence by placing Ms Teo’s phone near East Coast Park between 7.20am and 8.22am on Jun 30, 2007 to support false information given to the police that she had gone there.
He allegedly also fabricated false evidence by making calls to Ms Teo’s phone, leaving her voicemails and messaging her on social media to create the false impression that he believed she was still alive.
On Jul 11 and Jul 25, 2007, he is suspected of giving false information to two police officers to the effect that Ms Teo left the Marine Terrace flat on her own on Jun 30, 2007, and that he did not know what happened to her.
Mr Ragil is named as Ahmad Danial’s suspected accomplice in all these charges, including the original murder charge. He is at large and believed to be in Indonesia.
Ahmad Danial was set to plead guilty to the six charges earlier this week, but the hearing was adjourned after his lawyer said there were multiple issues to resolve on “facts, sentencing and documentation”.
Those convicted of depositing a corpse can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$2,000 or both.
Anyone who fabricates false evidence can be jailed for up to seven years or fined.
The punishment for misappropriating the property of a dead person is up to three years’ jail and a fine.
The penalty for omitting to give information to public servants as required by the law is up to one month’s jail and a fine of up to S$500.
Anyone who gives false information to a public servant can be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$1,000 or both.