PUTRAJAYA, April 4 —The Court of Appeal here today upheld the 10-year imprisonment meted out by a High Court against a canteen helper who pleaded guilty to charges with supporting terrorism and possession of a shirt with the symbol of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
A panel of three judges headed by Judge Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki made the decision after dismissing the appeal by Muhamad Noor Helmy Mohd Sabri, 32, for the jail sentence to be reduced.
On July 25 last year, the High Court sentenced Muhamad Noor Helmy to three years’ jail for possession of the shirt with the prohibited symbol and another 10 years for giving support to the terror group via the Telegram messaging service, using the name, Abu Suffyan.
He was ordered to serve the jail sentences concurrently from the date of his arrest, which was March 17, 2017.
Mohtarudin, sitting with judges Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Kamardin Hashim, also dismissed a cross-appeal by the prosecution for the jail sentence to be increased.
“Your (Muhamad Noor Helmy) appeal is dismissed. The cross appeal by the prosecution is also dismissed. The appeals have no merit. The sentence by the High Court is upheld,” said Mohtarudin.
Earlier, Muhamad Noor Helmy, representing himself, appealed to the court to reduce his jail sentences on grounds that others who committed the offence were given a lighter sentence.
However, Mohtarudin said sentence meted out was based on the facts of the case.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurshafini Mustafha prosecuted in the case.
According to the facts of the case, based on the conversation in the Telegram application, Muhamad Noor Helmy expressed his wish to go to Paso, Indonesia, to support and fight for the IS before moving on to Syria.
Analysis by experts on 20 images in Muhamad Noor Helmy’s Telegram chat room clearly showed that he was a hardcore supporter of IS and a dangerous IS messenger who could be a threat to national security.
Muhamad Noor Helmy was charged with possession of the shirt with the prohibited symbol a house at Jalan 9, Taman Tapah, Tapak, Perak, at about 6.45 pm on March 17, 2017.
He was charged under Section 130JB(1)(a) of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to seven years, or fine, and liable to forfeiture of items used in the commission of the act, upon conviction.
The second charge was for knowingly supporting the Daesh terror group through Telegram where he had used the name, Abu Suffyan, at the Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (E8) office of the Bukit Aman police headquarters between Feb 22 and March 15, 2017.
The charge under Section 130J (1)(a) of the Penal Code provides for life imprisonment or up to 30 years, or a fine, and confiscation of assets used in committing the offence or intended to be used in committing the offence, upon conviction. — Bernama
