File photo of Wan Ji being escorted to court in 2019.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here has dismissed an application by independent speaker Wan Ji Wan Hussin to refer constitutional issues regarding his sedition charges to the Federal Court.
A panel of three judges led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera dismissed the application on Monday (Aug 14) after unanimously allowing the prosecution's preliminary objection.
In the judgment, Justic Vazeer Alam said the court agreed with the objection raised by the prosecution that the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to refer legal questions to the Federal Court.
"Any legal question can be raised during the appeal hearing in the case later. Therefore, the application (by Wan Ji) is dismissed,” said Justice Vazeer Alam, who sat with Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azmi Ariffin.
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Earlier, lawyer Muhammad Faiz Fadzil, representing Wan Ji, requested the court to allow his client's application to refer legal questions related to the charges facing him to the Federal Court.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling objected to the application on the grounds that the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear appeals, but no jurisdiction to refer questions of law to the Federal Court.
"The legal issue was not raised at the High Court, nor was the application to refer it to the Federal Court," she added.
The court then set Sept 25 to hear Wan Ji's appeal.
Wan Ji, 41, was found guilty by the Shah Alam Sessions Court on April 19, 2018 of making remarks that were found to be seditious against the Sultan of Selangor, as well as on religious issues, via his Facebook account wanji.attaaduddi.
He was charged with committing the offence at the Selangor State Secretary Housing Office, 5th Floor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building, Section 5 in Shah Alam at 10am on Nov 5, 2012.
The charge, under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or a jail term of up to three years or both for the first offence, and a maximum imprisonment of five years for the second and subsequent offences, if found guilty.
He was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and appealed the decision.
The prosecution then cross-appealed to increase the sentence, and in July 2019 the Shah Alam High Court extended the jail term to one year.
However, he was allowed an application for a stay of execution pending the disposal of his appeal. – Bernama
