The family of late PKR Miri secretary Bill Kayong have pleaded with attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali to reopen the case of the three murder suspects who were set free.

Five family members including Kayong’s widow Hasykin Hatta and younger brother Davy Kayong travelled from Miri, Sarawak to the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Putrajaya this afternoon to hand over a memorandum stating their case.

They were accompanied by their lawyer Murnie Hidayah Anuar and PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

An official from the chambers accepted the memorandum and said an official reply will be made within 15 days.

According to Murnie, the memorandum asked Apandi to meet with Kayong's family to seek the possibility of reopening the case.

"We know the memorandum may go against double jeopardy, but we hope the AG can consider such an option.

“The (Miri) High Court previously ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to link the trio to the murder. This happened because the prosecution failed to provide convincing evidence,” she said, adding that even if in the case of an appeal, the court would only consider evidence previously presented. Hence, it needs a reopening of the case.

Bill, a native customary rights activist, was shot dead on June 21 last year at a traffic light in the Kuala Baram district.

Back in June, Stephen Lee Chee Kiang, 46, Chin Wui Ching, 51, and Lie Chang Loon, 38, were released for abetting Mohamad Fitri Pauz, 30 to murder Kayong. Had the trio been found guilty, the punishment would have been death.

Hasyikin hoped that the attorney-general would bring justice to her late-husband, and help end her troubles since his passing.

“Ever since my husband died, life has changed completely. I now raise our kids by myself. Life is really hard, words can’t explain it,” she said.

Hasyikin explained she could not work because she had to take care of their two teenage children, depending only on an RM1,000 allocation from Sosco. Even then, the payout was often late.

“The payout for August has yet to be banked into my account. I only get it three times a year, and even then it isn’t on time,” she lamented.

Davy, 43, added that the family had received financial assistance from PKR MP Michael Teo, Bill’s former boss.

“For this trip, YB (Teo) helped pay for our plane tickets and hotel costs. The whole round trip cost RM4,000. Even though we face financial difficulties, we want justice,” he told Malaysiakini.

Like Hasyikin, he felt that life had taken a turn for the worse after Bill’s death.

“It feels like a bird with one wing missing. We have not been able to live comfortably like before.

“Also, we have been living in trauma ever since the three suspects were released. The whole family is afraid to leave the house because everyone in Miri knows he (one of the suspects) is the biggest gangster around. We feel like there is always someone following us,” he said.

However, Davy was grateful that police had sent special branch officers to protect his family despite them not making any requests.