KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 ― The KL Sessions Court found activist Hishamuddin Md Rais guilty of sedition today over his alleged call in May 13, 2013, to topple the Malaysian government and fined him RM5,000 in default of six months’ jail.

Judge Azman Mustapha, who took more than an hour to decide on the sentencing, said inciting the public to topple the government is a “serious offence”.

“His call could have lead to another demonstration which would cause major chaos just like in Arab countries where mass demonstrations had led to toppling the government,” he said in his ruling.

The judge also took into consideration the fact that Hishamuddin, 64, is past the retirement age and that the guilty charge is sufficient.

In his May 13 remarks, Hishamuddin and several other speakers had allegedly incited the public to overthrow the government through street protests during a forum shortly after the May 5 general election which saw Barisan Nasional (BN) retain power narrowly.

Hishamuddin and five others — politicians Chua Tian Chang, Tamrin Ghafar and activists Adam Adli Abdul Halim, Haris Ibrahim and Muhammad Safwan Anang — were charged in 2013 with sedition over remarks uttered at the same forum.

On September 5, Safwan was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment after the court found him guilty of making a speech with seditious tendency at the same forum.

This was followed by Adam Adli's conviction on September 19 — he was sentenced to a one-year in jail term for a speech at the same venue — in which he is said to have called for a change of government through undemocratic means.

Both the activists are appealing against the conviction and sentence.

Meanwhile the case against Chua, who is the Batu PKR MP, and Haris is still before the court as the duo have challenged the charge on grounds the offence violated their constitutional right to free speech.

When seeking a lighter sentence for his client, lawyer Syahredzan Johan pointed out that Hishamuddin’s action had not resulted in riots, threats to the country or created chaos.

“The government is still in power and there were no effort to topple the government unlawfully,” he told the court.

He added that there were also no injuries or damage to properties as a result in his speech.

Syahredzan later told reporters that he will discuss with his client if they want to appeal the ruling.