KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 ― The lawyer representing Fahmi Reza has confirmed that the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) will be appealing the graphic artist’s recently reduced sentence for posting a clown sketch of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Prominent lawyer Syahredzan Johan confirmed the fresh appeal with Malay Mail, which sees the AGC disputing the RM10,000 fine given to Fahmi by the Ipoh High Court on November 12.
“We will respond to their appeal at the Court of Appeal,” Syahredzan told Malay Mail when pressed for a comment.
The appeal also drew ire from a fellow lawyer, Fortify Rights legal director Eric Paulsen, who tweeted his sentiment of disappointment towards the appeal when it became public.
“So why is this still happening in Malaysia Baharu?
“Why is the AGC still appealing to enhance the punishment for a mere social media post by Fahmi Reza, to possibly jail him, like nothing has changed since GE14?,” he posted on his Twitter account.
He also questioned the intentions behind the verdict appeal, highlighting how the Attorney-General and the Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo had vowed against politically-motivated prosecutions or appeals under the new government.
“But it is still happening, just like the AGC had appealed to enhance Tian's sedition sentence,” he said in reference to the AGC recently appealing against former Batu MP Tian Chua’s acquittal from a sedition charge over a speech he made in 2013.
Fahmi was initially slapped with a one month imprisonment sentence along with a RM30,000 fine for his caricature depicting Najib, by the Ipoh Sessions Court in February this year.
He was required to pay the fine by February 2019 or face an additional six months in jail, but Fahmi settled the fine with proceeds from crowdfunding.
The verdict was then reduced, with the jail sentence waived and his fine reduced in November by the High Court.
