Policewoman jailed 7 years for withholding information on terrorism

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Nordin Hassan jailed Corporal Jusninawati Abdul Gani, 35, after finding her guilty of a charge of deliberately withholding information on the terrorist group to the authorities.

She is the first policewoman to be jailed on offences related to a terrorist group.

Nordin made the decision after finding that Jusninawati had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of the defence's case and ordered her to undergo sentence from the date of her arrest on March 22.

He said the policewoman who was entrusted to uphold the law had failed to do so, resulting in a Malaysian known as 'Abu Kedah' going to Syria and getting killed.

He said the role a police personnel was to collect information on terrorist groups, process it and hand it over to the authorities.

As such, he added, Jusninawati, who was a trained police personnel should not have made excuses against not divulging information, outside of what was appropriate.

He said Jusninawati, who gave her statement while not under oath in the dock by reading her statement, had also denied the charge against her.

However, Nordin noted, Jusninawati did not deny that 'Abu Kedah' did inform her that he wanted to take the prosecution's first witness (SP1) Nor Azimah, who is her (Jusninawati's) Facebook pal, to Syria.

He said the policewoman in her defence said the information which she obtained was only "empty talk" and it was not easy to enter Syria as it entailed a high cost.

"She had also regarded the story of 'Abu Kedah' intending to take SP1 to Syria as empty talk and the information need not be told to the authorities," he added.

The judicial commissioner said, based on witness statements, Jusninawati also aspired to go to Syria but her intention was curtailed due to financial problems.

However, he said the court was of the opinion the issue of her difficulty in going to Syria did not arise as she knew several Daesh militant members were already there.

"She was also in communication with other members in Syria despite being advised by Bukit Aman police not to be involved with the terrorist group."

Jusninawati, stationed at the Petaling Jaya district (IPD) police headquarters was charged with deliberately not divulging any information on the offence, which is believed to be an act of terrorism, at the IPD office between August 2015 and March 2016, under Section 130M of the Penal Code which provides a maximum seven years jail or fine or both.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Azlina Rasdi urged the court for a deterrent sentence to serve as a lesson and reflect the seriousness of the offence.

She said Jusninawati's action in not furnishing information on the terrorist group had resulted in the loss of a life and indeed, she had deliberately withheld the information.