PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here today ordered independent speaker Wan Ji Wan Hussin to begin serving his nine-month prison sentence for publishing offensive words and insulting the Sultan of Selangor via Facebook 11 years ago.

This followed a unanimous decision by a panel of three judges led by Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail to reinstate the Shah Alam Sessions Court's decision, made on April 9, 2018, in sentencing Wan Ji to nine months in prison for the offence, and dismissed his appeal against the conviction and sentence.

In reinstating the Shah Alam Sessions Court's decision, Judge Hadhariah also set aside the decision of the Shah Alam High Court in July 2019 which sentenced Wan Ji, 41, to one year in prison.

She said Wan Ji's appeal had no merit because there was a lot of evidence showing that the appellant (Wan Ji) was the owner of the Facebook page.

"Regarding the issue of punishment, the High Court Judge has no reason to increase the punishment. The sentence (of nine months' imprisonment) should have been upheld.

"Therefore, the court sets aside the one-year prison sentence handed down by the Shah Alam High Court against Wan Ji and reinstates the decision of the Shah Alam Sessions Court," said Judge Hadhariah, who sat with Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah and Judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin.

On the claim of no offence in the Sedition Act 1948 by Wan Ji in his appeal, she reaffirmed that the appellant had used inappropriate language on Facebook.

"If you (want to) give religious advice, say it using good words. Don't use inappropriate words, especially against the Sultan of Selangor, because now there are the 3R's (religion, royalty, race). Be careful with these sensitive words," she added.

Judge Hadhariah said freedom of speech does not give an absolute right for someone to speak at will as there are still limits that need to be maintained.

At today's proceedings, the prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor How May Ling, while lawyer Muhammad Faiz Fadzil represented Wan Ji.

Wan Ji had appealed against the one-year prison sentence imposed by the Shah Alam High Court in July 2019 after allowing the prosecution's cross-appeal to increase the nine-month prison sentence handed down by the Shah Alam Sessions Court on April 9, 2018.

On April 9, 2018, Sessions Court judge Mohd Sabri Ismail sentenced Wan Ji to nine months in jail after finding him guilty of publishing words that insulted the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on his Facebook under the name wanji.attaaduddi.

He was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 which provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 or imprisonment of not more than three years or both for the first offence, and to a maximum of five years imprisonment for the second and subsequent offences.

-- BERNAMA