The Malaysian Insight

INDEPENDENT preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin’s application for a stay of his jail sentence under the Sedition Act will be heard at the Shah Alam High Court tomorrow.

His lawyer, Radzlan Jalaluddin, said the application was filed at the high court yesterday, together with a certificate of urgency.

Another appeal against Wan Ji’s conviction has also been filed at the Court of Appeal, he told The Malaysian Insight.

“We are asking the high court for a stay of his jail sentence as we have filed an appeal against his conviction and sentencing with the appellate court.”

Wan Ji, who used to be an aide to former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, began serving a one-year jail sentence on Tuesday after the high court added three months to the original term handed down by the sessions court.

The high court also dismissed his appeal against his conviction and initial nine-month term.

He was found guilty of posting on Facebook content deemed insulting to the Selangor sultan seven years ago.

At the high court, the public prosecutor had cross-appealed for a stiffer sentence, leading to the additional three months’ jail.

Radzlan had told the court that his client was the sole breadwinner of a family with five children, aged 1 to 14.

The judge, however, ruled that the preacher’s offence was “extreme”, violating the Rukunegara principle of loyalty to king and country.

The Pakatan Harapan government was immediately criticised over the enhanced sentence, with civil society activists and even the ruling pact’s own members, including PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, slamming Putrajaya for failing to repeal the Sedition Act as promised.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday said the government is still reviewing the act, and has not yet decided whether to amend or abolish it. – July 11, 2019.