The accused, Muhammad Kasyfullah Kasim 38, had pleaded guilty in the High Court, here, to the offence of supporting terrorist acts and he received five years’ jail from the date of his arrest, Nov 27, 2014. “I hope that from today, you will repent, don’t do that again. You can do a lot of good things if you want to. You can even do jihad in Malaysia,” the judicial commissioner said to him. Mohamed Shariff also described the accused’s offence as serious, detestable and one that was condemned by society. Muhammad Kasyfullah pleaded guilty to the charge of supporting terrorism involving the use of firearms with the aim of furthering an ideological struggle that could threaten public safety in Syria. He had allegedly committed the offence by entering Syria between Dec 28, 2013 and April 7, 2014 by departing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The charge under Section 130J(1)(b) of the Penal Code provides for a life sentence or up to 30 years’ jail, or a fine and forfeiture of any assets used in committing the offence or aimed to be used to commit the offence. According to the facts of the case, between Dec 28, 2013 and April 7, 2014, the accused and his friends, Mohamad Fauzi Misrak, Mohammad Na’im Abd Rashid and Aqif Heusen Rahizat left from KLIA to Istanbul, Turkey, and then used a land route to enter Syria. While in Syria, the accused gave support and played a role under the patronage of the Islamic State (IS) terror group but did not pledge allegiance to the movement. Besides doing sentry duty around the mujahidin’s living quarters, Muhammad Kasyfullah who was armed with an AK47 assault rifle also went through military training and was involved in fighting against the regime of Bashar Al Assad in which he had fired shots. He had also uploaded pictures taken during his stay in Syria, onto his Facebook page.

Before leaving for Syria, the accused sold a piece of land for RM10,000 on Dec 24, 2013 to finance his trip to Syria. Earlier, counsel Azizzul Shariman Mat Yusoff, representing the accused, urged the court to impose a minimum jail sentence as it was the latter’s first offence. “My client is still young and not married. He realised his mistake of being in Syria when he was there, so (I) hope the court will give him a chance to correct his mistake,” he said. Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam asked for a heavy sentence and that commensurate with the offence, to serve as a lesson.

“The offence committed by the accused was serious as it involved security,” he said. ― Bernama