Netizen starts online petition in the wake of 'second chance' for Nur Fitri
PETALING JAYA: Netizen Hanie Razaif-Bohlender has started an online petition directed at Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), urging the institution not to give a child porn convict a "second chance".
Hanie's petition comes in the wake of comments by the institution's council member Nazir Hussin Akhtar Hussin who told a Bahasa Malaysia news portal that Mara scholar Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, 23, should be given a second chance following a London court's decision to sentence him to five years in prison on 13 offences of possessing more than 30,000 pornographic images and videos of children.
Nazir was reported as saying that Nur Fitri was a bright student who could prove to be an asset to the country.
On May 4, Bernama quoted Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal who said that the ministry would consider filing an appeal to the Southwark Crown court in London to reduce the sentence imposed on Nur Fitri.
Nur Fitri, a Mathematics student at Imperial College London was arrested at his home in Queensborough Terrace nearby Hyde Park on Nov 20 last year for possession of videos and images defined by British authorities as "extreme forms of child sexual abuse".
Mara who sent Nur Fitri to London to further his studies last year, terminated the study loan upon his conviction on April 30.
Hanie, a Human Resources practitioner and entrepreneur, said she started the petition because she believes that there are other deserving and gifted students out there who should be given the academic opportunities afforded to Nur Fitri.
"Mara wants to give him a second chance by allowing him to continue his education in any Mara institution in Malaysia, this is an injustice to other students out there who are more deserving of such opportunities.
"He is a convicted paedophile. What if he was not caught? If you think that Mara has erred in their decision to give him (Nur Fitri) a second chance, please sign this petition," she said.
The petition titled "Demand Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to stop giving a paedophile a second chance" at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ has garnered 1,086 signatures to date, since it was started on May 5. The petition's target is 2,000 signatures by May 31.