KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Six former Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) students who were previously convicted for murdering Navy Cadet Officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain in 2017 will no longer meet the hangman.

Instead, the Federal Court decided to reduce their original death sentences to 18 years in prison.

Before going into the top court’s reasons, here’s a quick refresher of what the case was all about up to yesterday’s decision.

The six accused persons (OKT, Bahasa Malaysia for Orang Kena Tuduh) were Zulfarhan’s fellow students: Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal (OKT1), Muhammad Azamuddin Mad Sofi (OKT2), Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi (OKT3), Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat (OKT4), Mohamad Shobirin Sabri (OKT5), and Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali (OKT6).