Preacher Wan Ji gets stay of jail sentence

SHAH ALAM (Bernama): The High Court here Friday (July 12) allowed an application for a stay of the one-year jail sentence imposed on Wan Ji Wan Hussin, until the appeal process is completed.

The preacher had been convicted of making remarks that were found to be seditious against the Sultan of Selangor.

Judge Abdul Halim Aman granted the stay after hearing the appeal from Wan Ji's counsels Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin and Ariff Azami Hussein.

He also ordered the 37-year-old man to surrender his passport to the court if it was renewed.

“The stay of the execution for the sentence is allowed and the stipulated conditions are to remain,” he said.

In the proceedings at the Sessions Court here earlier, the conditions were Wan Ji needed to pay bail of RM5,000 and surrender his passport to the court.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah was named the respondent in the application.

Wan Ji, who had spent two days at the Kajang Prison, filed an appeal against the court decision on Tuesday (July 9) and applied for a stay of execution on the same day.

Meanwhile, Mohd Radzlan, when met after the proceedings, said that the team presented 18 reasons to the court.

“Among the reasons was the long period of the jail term and Wan Ji being the sole breadwinner of his family,” he said.

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 when it denied his appeal against his conviction and sentence.

On Sept 10, 2014, Wan Ji was charged with making the remarks against Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, as well as other religious issues via his Facebook account wanji.attaaduddi.

He was charged with committing the offence at the Selangor State Secretary Housing Office, 5th Floor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building, Section 5 here at 10am on Nov 5, 2012.

The charge, under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or jail term of up to three years or both. – Bernama