Activist Haris gets eight months’ jail for seditious remarks
THE STAR
KUALA LUMPUR: Civil activist Haris Ibrahim was sentenced to eight months’ prison by the Sessions Court here after being found guilty of making seditious remarks at a public forum following the general election three years ago.
Judge Shamsudin Abdullah granted the defence’s application for a stay of execution pending appeal, with bail increased to RM10,000 from RM5,000.
Haris was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, which carries a jail term of not more than three years and a fine not exceeding RM5,000.
In handing down the guilty verdict yesterday, Shamsudin said he was satisfied that the words uttered by the accused at the forum had a tendency to call on Malaysians to topple a democratically-elected government.
He said the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case beyond reasonable doubt, and that the defence’s testimony was a mere denial of wrongdoing.
In applying for a stay, Haris’ counsel Gobind Singh Deo submitted that there were still pending court challenges to the constitutionality of the Sedition Act. Gobind had earlier appealed for a lighter sentence, on consideration that his client had several medical conditions.
In calling for a heavier sentence, deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad said that as a lawyer by profession, the accused should have sought better ways to air his grouses about the Government and electoral system.
He said a harsher sentence should be meted out to deter others in the future.
Haris and four others were charged with uttering the seditious words at a public forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharaja Lela, between 8.55pm and 11.15pm on May 13, 2013.
He was charged with former Batu Berendam MP Tamrin Ghafar, PKR vice-president Tian Chua, student activist Adam Adli, and another activist, Safwan Anang.
All of them had pleaded not guilty with the trials conducted separately.
