Preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin’s appeal against the enhancement of his jail sentence over a 2014 sedition charge will be heard by the Court of Appeal on June 25.
One of his counsel, Harshaan Zamani, confirmed with Malaysiakini today that the appeal would be heard by a three-person Court of Appeal bench.
“Wan Ji’s case (appeal) is fixed for hearing on June 25, 2020,” he said.
Harshaan added that the appeal was previously fixed for hearing before the Court of Appeal on Feb 10, but the court had allowed an application by Wan Ji’s defence team to adjourn the hearing date.
“We applied for an adjournment on grounds that we needed more time to go through the case and prepare submissions, as one of the grounds of appeal concerns a constitutional issue,” the lawyer said.
Wan Ji is appealing against the Shah Alam High Court’s order on July 9 last year, which enhanced his jail term to one year following his sedition conviction.
The charge was over a Facebook post about the Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
The High Court had allowed the prosecution’s appeal to increase the initial nine-month jail sentence meted out by the Shah Alam Sessions Court. Wan Ji had pleaded guilty at the lower court.
Currently, there is a stay against the Shah Alam High Court ruling, pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Wan Ji, who was a former aide to former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act, which carries a maximum jail term of three years, as well as a maximum fine of RM5,000.
The High Court’s ruling had attracted renewed calls for the then Pakatan Harapan administration to abolish the Sedition Act, with the coalition’s youth wing calling for the release of Wan Ji and for then attorney-general Tommy Thomas to explain why the prosecution had appealed for a heavier sentence. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.