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PKR’s Iswardy Morni mulls appeal following sedition conviction

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The RM5,000 fine imposed following his conviction for sedition will bar the Petra Jaya division chief from contesting in parliamentary or state elections over the next five years.

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Iswardy Morni
On Jan 23, PKR’s Iswardy Morni was convicted of sedition and fined for offensive comments made about the former king four years ago.

KUALA LUMPUR:
Iswardy Morni, who was slapped with a RM5,000 fine for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong four years ago, is considering filing an appeal, his lawyer said.

Nik Mohamed Ikhwan Nik Mahamud said the PKR leader has until Feb 6 to file a notice of appeal against his conviction and sentence by the sessions court here last week.

“We are still awaiting instructions from our client,” he told FMT.

He said a major factor that Iswardy, the PKR information coordinating secretary and Petra Jaya division chief, has to take into consideration is that he will be barred from contesting in parliamentary or state elections for a period of five years unless he obtains a pardon from the king.

Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution provides that the disqualification will apply if he is fined in excess of RM2,000 or sent to jail for more than one year, and will run from the date the sentence starts.

Last week, sessions court judge MM Edwin Paramjothy imposed a non-custodial sentence on Iswardy, 47, after finding him guilty. He said first-time offenders like Iswardy were entitled to some degree of mitigation unless the case was considered severe.

“In this case, the accused has no prior record of similar offences, strengthening the argument for mitigation,” Paramjothy said when delivering his verdict on Jan 23.

FMT has also reached out for a response from Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar.

Iswardy was charged on June 1, 2021 under Section 4(1)(a) of the Sedition Act 1948 for statements made on Facebook deemed to be seditious and insulting towards former king Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

The offensive comments were said to have been contained in a video posted online titled “Total lockdown: apa yang kerajaan gagal belajar dalam setahun” (Total lockdown: what the government failed to learn after one year).

At the time, the government was led by Perikatan Nasional, with Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.

Iswardy was convicted of committing the offence at the office of the commercial crime investigation department in Wangsa Maju at about 3pm on May 29, 2021.

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