Just yesterday (13 April), it was reported that the High Court in Johor Bahru has sentenced 27-year-old Sam Ke Ting to 6 years’ imprisonment as well as a fine of RM6,000 following the offence of reckless driving, which resulted in the death of 8 teenagers on modified bikes (basikal lajak).
The accident happened at 3:20 am in February 2017 at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Bahru.
Sam had originally been freed from a charge of reckless driving by the Magistrates’ Court in October 2019, being acquitted and discharged at the end of the prosecution’s case without having her called to the stand for her defence.
Following the decision, the families of the victims have expressed their gratitude and relief and stated that they have finally got the justice that they deserve.
According to the families involved, the tragedy has been difficult to forget and has had an impact on their lives causing them emotional distress.
However, it seems that not everyone is happy with the verdict. At the time of writing, four online petitions have been created to highlight Sam’s plight, with all having been launched only yesterday.
One called ‘Justice for Sam’ has the most signatories with over 369,000 signatures at the time of writing. Its description reads, “Justice must be upheld despite the bitterness and pain!”
“No one wants an accident to happen. Even more so an accident that sacrifices young souls. There is no denying there will be emotions in this case, but justice needs to be upheld. Truth and fact cannot be ignored.”
“The tragic incident happened on the road after 3am. Roads for cars are not for bikes. Far more so for minors on their own. Sam has been proven to be driving within the speed limit by MIROS,” it reads.
“I do not understand why the government appealed even though Sam has been acquitted twice by the court in 2019 and 2021 and it was once found that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case,” it added.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragedy, and in any case, the lives lost cannot be revived. Family members of the victims will bear this huge loss for the rest of their lives. However, this does not mean that we can prey on others.”
Meanwhile, another petition titled “Bebaskan Sam Ke Ting daripada pertuduhan memandu secara melulu #FreeSamKeTing”, has over 359,000 signatures at the time of writing.
The petition pointed out the magistrate had in her 2019 judgment noted that “Sam was not under the influence of alcohol, was not using her phone and had her seatbelt on while driving, proving that she was driving responsibly and carefully.”
“But it was a dark, hilly and winding road where the driver could not foresee that there would be a bicycle gang on the road at 3am in the morning,” it added.
“We Malaysians are horrified by the new sentence of Sam, where facts supported that she was a responsible driver, the real victim in this accident. It was the failed parenthood of the parents of the future mat rempit that allowed their children to roam in the street with modified bicycles at 3am,” stated the petition.
“We do not accept this judgment, and seek to have her sentence overturned, so not to rob the bright future of a young, innocent Malaysian citizen.”
Meanwhile, one of the two other petitions have over 1,000 signatures whilst the other has over 100.
Do you think that Sam deserved the punishment? Let us know in the comments.
