'Occupy Dataran' student gets a month's jail, fine

The magistrate's court has slapped an 'Occupy Dataran' student with a month’s jail and a RM1,000 fine for obstructing a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officer from carrying out his duties during a raid on the student movement in April.
The student, Umar Mohd Azmi, was charged on April 23 under Section 186 of the Penal Code with obstructing DBKL officer Mohd Masran Mamat from "apprehending and escorting" activist Mohd Fahmi Reza Mohd Zarin into custody.
This allegedly took place during a surprise DBKL raid on a protest camp at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur about 8am on April 22.
Student activists had occupied the iconic square in protest against the student loan scheme National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN), which they claim is unfair.
Umar's lawyers, Syahredzan Johan and Puspawati Rosman, today asked magistrate Zaki Asyraf Zubir to exercise his discretion under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code to bind him over or impose a fine as Umar's participation in the Occupy Dataran movement was an exercise of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly by a young man.

Plea for stay of sentence rejected

Syahredzan added that deputy public prosecutor Wong Chai Sia did not ask the court for a jail sentence but a “commensurate punishment” and a “deterrent sentence”.

However, Zaki opted for a custodial sentence.

The counsel then applied for a stay of execution of sentence pending appeal, since the appeal might take more than one month.
Wong did not object, but this application, too, was rejected by the magistrate.

This means Umar will have to start serving his jail term today.

His lawyers are currently filing the appeal and stay of execution of sentence in Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Zaki was the magistrate who granted police the court order to ban Bersih 3.0 rally participants and members of the public from gathering at Dataran Merdeka in April this year.

Umar, 23, is a final-year student in a private college and is currently undergoing his internship in Johor.

Both Umar and his father, who came to support his son, appeared emotional after the sentence was passed.
The student occupation of Dataran Merdeka was the result of astudent rallywhen on April 14, a couple weeks before the Bersih 3.0 rally, around 500 marched from Masjid Jamek LRT station to the square demanding the abolition of the PTPTN.

At the end of the rally, some 100 decided to stay on till the April 28 rally for electoral reform and were later joined by Fahmi's Occupy Dataran group.

Fahmi and Umar were arrested on Day 8 of the camp-in.

The Occupy group eventually stayed on in Dataran clocking overtwo months, long after the original student protesters dispersed along with Bersih 3.0 crowd.