Activist Adam Adli was charged last year with uttering a seditious statement at a May 13 forum. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 19, 2014.The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today found former student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim guilty of sedition and sentenced him to 12 months in jail.
He had been charged last year with uttering a seditious statement at a May 13 forum where he allegedly questioned the results of the 13th general election and called on Malaysians to take to the streets to boot Barisan Nasional (BN) out of Putrajaya.
“Guilty,” Adam wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter from the court this morning.
“Having different opinion is apparently a crime now according to our dearest prosecutor," he said in another tweet.
Adam, 25, is represented by lawyers N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya, who are seeking a lighter sentence from judge Mat Ghani Abdullah.
In an immediate reaction, Human Rights Watch said Adam’s conviction and sentencing showed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government was showing “authoritarian tendencies one usually associates with single-party rule rather than democracy”.
"More than anything, this conviction shows the incredible danger posed by the Sedition Act, which is so vague that it can be used by the government to criminalise any sort of speech it deems offensive. It's time for Prime Minister Najib to stop reneging on his repeated past promises to revoke the Sedition Act, and get working to get rid of this odious law,” its Asia Division deputy director Phil Robertson said.
Adam is the second student activist to be found guilty and sentenced to jail for sedition.
Former Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) chairperson Muhammad Safwan Anang was sentenced to 10 months’ jail by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on September 5.
Safwan was convicted of uttering seditious words during the same May 13, 2013 forum.
Ghani sentenced Adam under section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948, but he was allowed a stay pending appeal and bail of RM5,000.
During mitigation, Surendran and Latheefa raised the issue that the Attorney-General was reviewing a slew of charges under the Sedition Act 1948, according to NGO Lawyers for Liberty.
The lawyers also brought up Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to repeal the colonial-era law.
Latheefa said this was Adam’s first offence and no one was hurt as a result of what he said, news portal Malaysiakini reported.
Both Latheefa and Surendran called for only a fine to be imposed.
However, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas argued for a heavier sentence to appease public sentiment.
“Public demands that the sentence should serve a deterrent for others as Adam is bright and he fought for a democracy and knows that a change of government should be done through democratic means,” Abazafree was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
Latheefa later told The Malaysian Insider that the judge had not prepared a basis for the sentencing.
“He hasn’t read out the reasons for the conviction. He will inform us when it is ready. Today, he just read out the fact that Adam was guilty and the sentencing.”
She said the judge was expected to release his basis for the conviction once Adam’s lawyers put up a notice of appeal.
“We will appeal as soon as possible. We have a month from the decision to put up the notice of appeal,” she added.
The decision today was met with outrage on social media, as politicians, lawyers and activists condemned the “excessive” sentence. – September 19, 2014.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments