KUALA LUMPUR, July — The High Court in Shah Alam rejected today independent Muslim preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin’s appeal against his conviction for making seditious remarks against the Sultan of Selangor seven years ago.

Malay daily Sinar Harian reported that High Court judge Abdul Halim Aman also increased Wan Ji’s original prison sentence from nine months to a year.

Halim said Wan Ji’s remarks were clearly insulting to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

"After taking into consideration the seriousness of the case, the court extends the jail sentence meted out by the Sessions Court to a year 

"As stated in the charge, this is an extreme act, and we must remember the principle of the Rukun Negara which is loyalty to king and country. 

"Although as citizens we are given a lot of freedom, it has limits and is subject to laws and norms,” Halim said in his judgment. 

Wan Ji, 37, through his lawyer, Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin, sought for a stay of the sentence pending further appeal but the judge said this must come via a formal application for him to decide.

In April last year, the Sessions Court sentenced Wan Ji to nine months’ jail over his Facebook posts in 2012.

He was charged under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, which is punishable by a fine not exceeding RM5,000, a prison term of up to three years, or both.

Wan Ji, a former member of the Selangor PAS Ulama wing, had reportedly questioned the status of the sultan as the head of religion.

In 2017, the Kelantan-born was appointed as the spokesman on Islamic matters by the DAP-led Penang state government.