KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was sentenced to seven years in jail, two strokes of the cane and fined RM10 million by the High Court here today after being found guilty of four corruption charges.
He was charged with one count each of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT) and misappropriation of property, and two counts of money laundering in connection to Bersatu Youth funds.
Justice Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid sentenced Syed Saddiq to three years’ jail and one stroke of the cane for abetting in CBT, and two years and one stroke of the cane for misappropriation of property.
For the two other charges of money laundering, the 30-year-old lawmaker was sentenced to two-year imprisonment and fined RM5 million, each.
Syed Saddiq will also have to serve another four years in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
Justice Azhar ordered the jail sentence for abetting CBT and misappropriation of property to run consecutively, while the jail sentence for money laundering to run concurrently, beginning today.
However, the judge granted Syed Saddiq’s application for a stay of execution of the sentence pending appeal.
“The court maintains the existing condition for bail,” the judge said.
Prior to this, the former Armada chief was allowed bail of RM330,000 for all charges and was ordered to surrender his passport to the court until the case was concluded. He was also required to report to the nearby Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office once a month.
Justice Azhar, in convicting Syed Saddiq in all charges, said the court had given maximum consideration to the overall evidence as required by the law after hearing the testimonies of 29 prosecution witnesses and the accused himself, who gave sworn testimony, as well as four defence witnesses.
In mitigation, Syed Saddiq’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo requested the court to grant a stay of execution of the prison sentence and fine while an appeal is filed in the Court of Appeal, but Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd ‘Afif Ali opposed the request on grounds that there were no special circumstances that would allow for a stay.
His other lawyer, Haijan Omar requested for leniency, saying that his client is the youngest in the family, unmarried, and needs to take care of his 66-year-old father and 62-year-old mother, both of whom are government pensioners.
“My client’s parents are also present in court today. His father has just undergone cataract surgery, while his mother is suffering from breast cancer,” he said.
Haijan said the court should also take into consideration the deeds and contributions of his client, who was the former Youth and Sports Minister from 2018 to 2020.
“When he was appointed as a minister, he was internationally recognised as the youngest minister in Asia. During his tenure, he was tasked with leading the historic constitutional amendment in the country, the Undi18, which paved the way for more than three million youth to vote starting from the 15th General Election.
“Among his significant contributions were raising the internship allowance from RM300 to RM900 and elevating Malaysia’s name in the field of e-sports.
“As the MP for Muar, he also launched several initiatives to secure funds for providing laptops and tablets to thousands of underprivileged students in his parliamentary constituency.
“He also has no past criminal record, and I humbly request the court to impose either a prison sentence or a fine,” the lawyer said.
Gobind also asked the court to consider the accused’s defence and the testimonies of defence witnesses, which showed that the money in his client’s case was used to help the public during the Covid-19 pandemic and also for other charitable purposes.
“The defence witnesses’ testimonies show that the accused did not use the money for personal purposes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin pressed for a prison sentence ranging from one to four years for each charge, with the sentences to run consecutively.
“For the charge of abetting to commit CBT, the prosecution suggests a fine of RM2 million with three to five strokes of the cane, for misappropriation of property a maximum fine of RM500,000 with five strokes of the cane, while for the two charges of money laundering, each is fined RM2 million,” he said.
Wan Shaharuddin said the court should take into account the public interest factor as they demand prevent punishments in view of the many cases of politicians being charged.
— Bernama
