The High Court has sentenced blogger Wan Azri Wan Deris to 30 days’ jail for contempt of court.
Judicial commissioner Gan Techiong handed down the sentence after hearing submissions from both parties on the committal proceedings brought by former inspector-general of police Razarudin Husain against Wan Azri, also known as Papagomo.
The court also ordered Wan Azri to pay Razarudin RM30,000 in costs.
However, it allowed a stay of execution pending the disposal of his appeal against the sentence.
In his ruling, Gan said the apology issued by Wan Azri to Razarudin on a social media platform on May 1 is not acceptable.
“It is my finding that the apology issued by the defendant is not acceptable as an apology.
“The addition of the P Ramlee song as background music (in the apology video) makes it appear as an entertainment video instead of an apology,” he said.
The apology, uploaded on Papagomo’s social media accounts on April 30, featured “Maafkan Kami” in the background.
Gan sentenced Papagomo to 15 days’ jail for failing to properly comply with the court order to apologise to Razarudin, and another 15 days for a statement in a video uploaded on social media showing lack of remorse.
The sentences are to run consecutively.
Razarudin filed a RM3 million lawsuit against Wan Azri on Dec 27 last year over alleged defamation, which also involved Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
On Jan 10, Razarudin secured an injunction order prohibiting Wan Azri or his agents from publishing or disseminating statements defamatory of Razarudin on any social media platform until the defamation suit is resolved.
On Feb 10, Razarudin obtained leave of the High Court to initiate committal proceedings against Wan Azri over his failure to comply with the injunction order.
On April 30, Wan Azri decided to purge his contempt just before the start of proceedings before Gan over defamatory and demeaning remarks made earlier this year.
In a statement read in court, the former police officer expressed his unreserved and unconditional regret for referring to Razarudin in a demeaning manner in a social media post on Jan 14.
He also apologised for publishing a doctored photo of Razarudin on the same media platform the following day.
Wan Azri gave an undertaking to the court that he would post his statement of apology on YouTube, Telegram, X, and TikTok on April 30, which would remain on the social media platforms for at least seven days.
Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali acted for Wan Azri while S Raam Kumar represented Razarudin.
