The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development was reported to consider appealing to the Southwark Crown court in London to reduce the sentence imposed on former Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) loan student Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, 23.
Nur Fitri was sentenced to five years prison on 13 offences of possessing more than 30,000 pornographic images and videos of children.
Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the ministry is mulling to appeal for a lighter sentence for the Mathematics genius.
READ: Malaysian Maths genius jailed in UK for child pornography
According to British newspapers, the smart mathematics student at Imperial College London was arrested during a raid at his home in Queensborough Terrace nearby Hyde Park on Nov 20 last year, while 600 category 'A' videos and images - defined by the British authorities as 'extreme form of child sexual abuse' were seized.
Mara, who were reported to have sent Nur Fitri to London to further his studies last year, terminated the study loan upon his conviction on April 30.
Nur Fitri had arrived in the UK last year.
READ: MARA terminates Nur Fitri Azmeer's study loan
Many took it online, expressing their displeasure and disgust at Mohd Shafie's proposal for shorter jail term for Nur Fitri, and said it could be deemed as a second chance to the paedophile.
The police were alerted to Nur Fitri after discovering an internet account that has been downloading thousands of sexual abuse videos and images.
Nur Fitri who is from Malim Nawar, Perak had studied at Sekolah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan.
After completing his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in 2009, Nur Fitri had continued his education at a local college in Malaysia before being offered a scholarship from Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to continue his education at the Imperial College in London to study mathematics.
Astro Awani
Tue May 05 2015
The police were alerted to Nur Fitri after discovering an internet account that has been downloading thousands of sexual abuse videos and images.
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