HR Defender Haris Ibrahim, another victim of draconian Sedition Act - Repeal Sedition Act - Free Haris?

Haris Ibrahim, another human rights defender becomes victim to the draconian Sedition Act...section 4(1)(b) - Any person who.. utters any seditious words.

8 months jail is excessive for just words uttered at a public forum...

Seditious tendency is vague - it is simply, amongst others, 'a tendency ...to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against ...Government. Intention ... deemed to be irrelevant if in fact the act had, or would, if done, have had, or the words, publication or thing had a seditious tendency.

The old 1948 Act, left behind by the British colonial government, is an affront to Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Opinion and the rights of a citizen in a democracy.

Revisiting the Malaysian Bar Resolution on the Sedition Act...passed on 2014?

ICJ - Malaysia: Sedition investigation against Malaysian Bar members constitutes inappropriate interference

Guilty of sedition, activist says ‘no regrets’ (VIDEO)
By Ida Lim


Thursday April 14, 2016
02:09 PM GMT+8
Activist lawyer Haris Ibrahim said he does not regret making the 2013 speech calling for a change in government. — file picture 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Activist lawyer Haris Ibrahim said he does not regret making the 2013 speech calling for a change in government although his remarks resulted today in a sedition conviction and an eight-month jail term. 

Speaking to reporters after the court’s decision this afternoon, the 57-year-old Haris claimed all he had done was express public opinion regarding the outcome of the 13th general election.
 
“So I have no regrets for what I said and I think I merely articulated sentiments of the majority of people,” he said. 

Haris was referring to Election 2013 when Barisan Nasional (BN) retained federal power despite losing the popular vote by winning the majority number of seats in Parliament. 

“So this was the situation where 52 per cent of the people had voted for change and we were denied that; the people were unhappy, I was unhappy, we felt we had been cheated.

“And if in this country, it has reached the point where citizens are not permitted to articulate that frustration — it’s seditious, then I think it’s a sorry state of affairs in this country,” he said. 

Haris said that an additional bail of RM5,000 was posted today, pending an appeal at the High Court against both his sedition conviction and jail term. 

This morning, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court convicted Haris of sedition after finding that his remarks had the tendency to urge Malaysians to change the government through unlawful means. 

Sessions Court judge Shamsudin Abdullah also said that he found that Haris’ defence in relation to his remarks made on May 13, 2013 amounted to a “mere denial”, adding that the latter had failed to raise reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case. 

Before sentencing, Haris’ lawyer Gobind Singh urged the court to merely impose a fine on his client, pointing out that it was his first criminal offence and that the activist was also on numerous medical treatments, besides having two school-going children. 

But deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad said the fact that Haris was a first-time offender should not prevent the court from imposing a jail term, claiming that the latter’s remarks “threaten the public’s peace, harmony and unity”. 

When delivering his sentence, the judge said he had considered the need for the punishment to serve as a lesson to both Haris and the public, as well as public interest to avoid the jeopardising of security. 

Haris was charged on May 29, 2013 under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, which is punishable with a maximum fine of RM5,000 and a maximum three-year jail term. 

 http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/guilty-of-sedition-activist-says-no-regrets#sthash.HNy4BgWa.dpuf 

Activist jailed eight months over seditious call to change government 
By Ida Lim
Thursday April 14, 2016 11:35 AM GMT+8
UPDATED:April 14, 2016 12:43 PM GMT+8

The Sessions Court today sentenced activist Haris Ibrahim to eight months’ jail after finding him guilty of sedition. — file picture  KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 ― The Sessions Court today sentenced activist Haris Ibrahim to eight months’ jail after finding him guilty of sedition over a speech he made three years ago where he urged for a change of power in Putrajaya.

Before sentencing, Sessions Court judge Shamsudin Abdullah said he had considered the need for the punishment to serve as a lesson to both Haris and the public.

“The court takes into account public interest so that security will not be threatened and will not cause public distress. The accused is sentenced to eight months’ jail starting from this day,” he said.

But the judge also allowed a stay of the execution of the sentence pending an appeal by Haris’ lawyers to the High Court, and fixed bail at RM10,000, an increase of RM5,000 from the current sum.

Haris was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, which is punishable with a maximum fine of RM5,000 and a maximum three-year jail term.

In his decision earlier, Shamsudin said he found that Haris's defence in relation to his remarks made on May 13, 2013 amounted to a “mere denial”.

“The court is also satisfied that the statement as a whole clearly shows the accused's dissatisfaction and anger with the ruling government,” the judge said, adding that the accused had failed to raise reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.

“The court finds the accused guilty and convicts him,” he said.

Haris's lawyer Gobind Singh urged the judge to only impose a fine on his client, noting that this was his first sedition offence and that he did not have any prior convictions for any other crime.

Gobind also said that the 57-year-old was being treated for his heart problems, diabetes and arthritis, besides having a son in university and a teenage daughter in secondary school.

But deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad said the fact that Haris was a first-time offender does not prevent the court from imposing a jail term.

He argued that the evidence showed Haris as having incited the public to change the government through unlawful means, claiming that the remarks “threaten the public's peace, harmony and unity”.

The government lawyer also said that if such a situation was allowed to go on, the public would no longer respect the government of the day and would call it a “cruel government”.

“As an experienced lawyer who is involved in NGO activities, with his knowledge and experience, the accused should use methods that are legally correct to solve issues about election,” he said.

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan also represented Haris today, while Norinna Bahadun also appeared for the government.

Haris and four others ― activists Hishammuddin Rais and Muhammad Safwan Anang, politician Chua Tian Chang and Tamrin Ghafar ― were all charged in the Sessions Court on May 29, 2013 under the same section. Student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim was charged under the same law a day earlier.

On January 9 last year, the KL Sessions Court found Hishamuddin guilty of sedition for his 2013 speech and fined him RM5,000 in default of six months’ jail, but this January saw the High Court increasing it to a nine-month jail term.

On September 5, 2013, Safwan was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment after the court found him guilty of making a speech with seditious tendency at the same forum, but this was reduced to a RM5,000 fine last December.

Adam Adli was convicted on September 19, 2014 and sentenced to a one-year in jail term, but this February saw it reduced to a RM5,000 fine by the High Court. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/activist-jailed-eight-months-over-seditious-call-to-change-government#sthash.iWntxKUs.dpuf

Haris Ibrahim’s sedition jail term ‘the latest travesty’, says Amnesty 

by admin - 15 Apr 2016

The conviction of prominent lawyer and human rights activist Haris Ibrahim of sedition highlights Malaysia’s increasing determination to crush any form of dissent in the country, Amnesty International said yesterday. 

“(Yesterday’s) conviction of human rights activist Haris Ibrahim is the latest travesty in a series of politically motivated actions to silence dissent in Malaysia. The Malaysian government must halt its prosecution of human rights defenders who have called for peaceful protests and electoral reforms. If imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider Ibrahim a Prisoner of Conscience,” said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s Director of Campaigns for South-East Asia.

“This case demonstrates the importance of repealing Malaysia’s Sedition Act, a repressive law that has been used with impunity against government critics. Such laws have no place in a modern, rights-respecting society. The Malaysian government should repeal the Sedition Act, quash all convictions under it, and ensure stringent protections are in place for citizens to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

Background

Malaysian human rights activist Haris Ibrahim was convicted and sentenced to eight months imprisonment yesterday for speaking at a forum that was critical of the Malaysian government’s victory in the last general elections held in 2013.

Haris Ibrahim was one of the many individuals charged under the Sedition Act 1948 in May 2013 immediately after the last general elections, triggering an intensified wave of politically motivated prosecutions and the trend in imprisoning government critics.

In 2015 alone, at least 91 individuals were arrested, charged or investigated for sedition – almost five times as many as during the law’s first 50 years of existence.

In 2012, Prime Minister Najib Razak vowed to repeal the law, but the government has not only reneged on that promise but actually strengthened and widened the scope and application of the Sedition Act.

An amendment to the Act rushed through Parliament in April 2015 after less than a day’s debate added criticism of religion to the list of sedition offences, and reduced the discretion of judges in sentencing, requiring them to impose prison sentences of between three and seven years. It also brought electronic media and sharing on social media under the Act. - ALIRAN Website

Haris Ibrahim sentenced to eight months jail for sedition

Posted on 14 April 2016 - 11:50am
Last updated on 14 April 2016 - 06:34pm

Bernard Cheah
Newsdesk@thesundaily.com

Haris Ibrahim was charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act in 2013 which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 and a maximum three-year jail term upon conviction. — Sun file pix

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition activist Haris Ibrahim was sentenced to eight months in jail by the Sessions Court today for uttering seditious remarks at a public forum in 2013.

In his judgement, Sessions Judge Shamsudin Abdullah said Haris had crossed the "legal boundaries" when he made seditious remarks in a public forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall along Jalan Maharaja Lela on May 13, 2013 after the 13th General Election.

Haris was found guilty under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, which carries a jail term of up to three years, or a fine not exceeding RM5,000.

Shamsudin however granted the defence's application for a stay of execution pending appeal, but increased the quantum of bail from RM5,000 to RM10,000 with one surety.

During mitigation, Haris' counsel Gobind Singh Deo asked for a lighter sentence, adding that this was his client's first offence. 

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad called for a harsher sentence, adding that the offence committed was a matter of public interest.

Haris who paid the bail, told the media outside the courtroom that he would appeal against both the decision and sentencing. - The Sun Daily, 14/4/2016