KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno Youth Exco Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of court.
High Court Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong, who delivered the ruling, found that Wan Muhammad Azri had breached a court injunction in relation to an ongoing defamation suit filed by former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
The court sentenced Wan Muhammad Azri to 15 days in jail for the first breach of the injunction earlier this year, and another 15 days for a second breach in May.
Gan ordered the sentences to run consecutively, meaning the blogger will serve a total of 30 days in prison. However, the court granted a stay of execution pending his appeal.
The court also ordered Wan Muhammad Azri to pay RM30,000 in costs to Razarudin within three to four days.
The injunction was intended to prevent Wan Muhammad Azri from making or repeating any defamatory or demeaning statements on social media against Razarudin.
However, the court found that the apology posted on social media on April 30, as ordered, was unsatisfactory.
The apology video was deemed illegible due to its fast speed and was set to the background music from P. Ramlee’s classic film Pendekar Bujang Lapok.
“The music from the P. Ramlee song made it appear more like an entertainment video rather than a sincere apology.
“The purpose of the apology was to purge his contempt. On this ground alone, it is sufficient to find Wan Muhammad Azri guilty of contempt,” Gan said.
He further said that Wan Muhammad Azri should have refrained from making any comments following the unconditional apology tendered to the court on April 30.
Gan however, said the blogger failed to do so, posting another video the very next day explaining the apology.
“But the video conveying the apology did not reflect any genuine remorse and left viewers in no doubt that the apology was made solely to avoid punishment for contempt of court,” he said.
The case is related to an RM3 million lawsuit filed by Razarudin against Wan Muhammad Azri over alleged defamation, whereby the alleged defamatory remarks also mentioned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
– BERNAMA
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
