Pakatan Youth: Release Wan Ji, AG told to explain appeal for heavier sentence

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Youth has called for the release of preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin, who was found guilty of sedition, and wants the Attorney General to explain why the prosecution appealed for a heavier sentence.

In expressing concern over a High Court decision to extend his nine-month jail sentence to one year, Pakatan Youth said this went against the policies of the Pakatan government concerning the Sedition Act.

“We urge the Federal Government to hasten the abolition of the Sedition Act, so that rights violations do not happen again,” it said in a statement Wednesday (July 10).

The statement was signed by Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, DAP Youth chief Howard Lee, PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir and Amanah Youth chief Mohd Sany Hamzan.

“We would like to repeat our commitment to Promise 21 of the Pakatan manifesto to abolish all repressive acts, including the Sedition Act 1984, for the freedom of expression and human rights as enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” the youth leaders said.

They added that the preacher should be released from prison.

Wan Ji was initially sentenced to nine months in jail by the Sessions Court in April 2018, but this was extended to one year by the Shah Alam High Court on Tuesday (July 10) when it denied Wan Ji’s appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Wan Ji was convicted under the Sedition Act for making remarks that were found to be seditious against the Sultan of Selangor in Facebook posts in 2012.