KUALA LUMPUR – A human rights organisation has urged the state government to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to grant a royal pardon to independent speaker Wan Ji Wan Hussin, who was yesterday ordered to begin serving his nine-month prison sentence for insulting the Selangor sultan via Facebook 11 years ago.
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said it is “appalling and reprehensible” that Wan Ji has “fallen victim” to the Sedition Act 1948, a law the group deemed “notorious for its infringement of freedom of speech”.
“Under Article 42(4)(b), the ruler exercises the power of pardon on the advice of the Selangor Pardons Board. By virtue of Article 42(5), the Selangor menteri besar is a member of the Pardons Board.
“The attorney-general, in his capacity as the federal government’s and the prime minister’s chief legal adviser, also sits as a member of the Selangor Pardons Board under the same law and must advise on the grant of pardon in Wan Ji’s case.
“The state government, which is led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and has a menteri besar from PKR (Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari), must do the right thing and advise the ruler to pardon Wan Ji under Article 42 of the federal constitution,” said LFL director Zaid Malek in a statement today.
The group added that it is a “moral imperative and duty” of PH to ensure that Wan Ji does not continue to endure imprisonment under the Sedition Act, as the coalition led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had previously promised to repeal the draconian law.
“There is no basis or reasonable grounds to defend the indefensible Sedition Act. It is a reprehensible relic of our British colonial past that should have long been repealed, and its continued use is a blight on our criminal justice system as well as our nation.
“The definition of the offence is so widely crouched that any statement by a citizen could be deemed seditious by the authorities and prosecution instituted. It has a chilling effect on free speech and militates against our sense of justice,” Zaid added.
He also claimed that when Anwar was part of the opposition in 2019, the PKR president had called the high court’s sentencing against Wan Ji “harsh” and “not consistent with the democratic transition”.
“Now, as prime minister, Anwar is in a position to redress the injustice done to Wan Ji.
“Irrespective of the words uttered in the facts of this case, Wan Ji must not be abandoned to languish in jail under the inhumane Sedition Act, which would be a black mark upon the nation and our justice system.”
Recently, Muda had questioned the government’s commitment to repealing the Sedition Act, highlighting how the use of the legislation had increased by 1,000% from 2012 to 2015 after the Internal Security Act 1960 was repealed.
A unanimous decision by a panel of three appellate court judges led by Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail yesterday reinstated the Shah Alam session court’s decision, made on April 9, 2018, to sentence Wan Ji to nine months in prison for publishing offensive words and insulting the royalty.
In reinstating the lower court’s decision, 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.
On the claim of no offence in the Sedition Act by Wan Ji in his appeal, she said: “The words said in the appellant’s Facebook are indeed inappropriate. If we are geniuses in religious matters, we should not belittle others.”
“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 3Rs (religion, royalty, and race). Be careful with these sensitive words.”
Wan Ji 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 a maximum of five years imprisonment for the second and subsequent offences. – September 26, 2023