Oct 1 hearing for preacher's appeal in sedition case

 

Preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin’s appeal to reduce his one-year jail sentence over a 2014 sedition case will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Oct 1.

His counsel Harshaan Zamani confirmed the hearing date following online case management of the matter before the Court of Appeal Registry.

“Wan Ji’s appeal has been fixed for hearing on Oct 1,” the lawyer told Malaysiakini today. 

The preacher’s appeal seeks to reduce his enhanced jail sentence over a sedition case linked to the Selangor sultan.

Harshaan explained that the previously scheduled hearing of the appeal on April 7 was vacated due to the movement control order.

Later through a circular issued by the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on July 3, criminal trials were generally allowed to resume (subject to Covid-19 preventive standard operating procedures) during Phase I and II of the National Recovery Plan.

Wan Ji (above) 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 Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

The High Court allowed the prosecution’s appeal to increase the initial nine-month jail sentence meted out by the Sessions Court. Wan Ji pleaded guilty at the lower court.

There is a stay against the Shah Alam High Court ruling, pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Once an aide to former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, Wan Ji 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 at the time attracted renewed calls for the then Pakatan Harapan administration to abolish the Sedition Act.

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas

The coalition's youth wing called for the release of Wan Ji and for then attorney-general Tommy Thomas to explain why the prosecution appealed for a heavier sentence.

As the initial sedition decision originated from the Shah Alam Sessions Court, his first appeal was heard at the Shah Alam High Court. The Court of Appeal is the final avenue of appeal for Wan Ji.

Previously, Wan Ji’s appeal was set to be heard on Feb 10 last year, but the Court of Appeal allowed the hearing to be postponed in order to grant more time to his legal team to prepare submissions on the constitutional issues in the case. - Mkini