Appeals court acquits former student activist of sedition charge

A three-member panel chaired by Justice Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki also set aside the conviction and 10-month jail sentence imposed by the Sessions Court on Muhammad Safwan Anang, a former chairman of student group Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia, after finding him guilty of allegedly urging the public to topple the government.

Muhammad Safwan, 27, was charged with making the alleged seditious speech at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur, on May 13, 2013.

The panel, which included Justices Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam and Datuk Dr Prasad Sandosham Abraham, also set aside the RM5,000 fine in default two years jail imposed by the High Court on Muhammad Safwan.

The High Court on Dec 16, 2015, had substituted the 10-month jail sentence with RM5,000 fine, in default two years jail, after allowing Muhammad Safwan's appeal against the sentence handed down by the Sessions Court on Sept 5, 2014.

Justice Prasad, who read out the judgment, said that having perused the statement, the panel was satisfied that it did not have a seditious tendency and decided that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against the Muhammad Safwan in the Sessions Court.

He stressed that the court must scrutinise and independently evaluate the statement to see whether the language used came within the bounds of sedition and that failure to do so amounted to a serious misdirection in law which would render a conviction unsafe.

"We find that a prima facie case had not been made out against the appellant in the Sessions Court as the statement in question was not seditious. Therefore, the appellant should have been acquitted," he said.

The panel made the ruling after allowing the appeal by Muhammad Safwan against his conviction and RM5,000 fine imposed by the High Court.