KUALA LUMPUR: A former taxi driver was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the High Court here today after he was found guilty on three counts of supporting the terrorist group Daesh (Islamic State).
Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak, in handing out the sentence to Nor Mizan Panijan, 40, said the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt on all three charges.
He also concurred with the prosecution’s argument that the accused’s statement of defence was merely built on denial and not much else.
The court sentenced Nor Mizan to 10 years for the first charge, six years for the second and three years for the third charge and ordered him to serve the sentence from the date of arrest on July 15, 2016.
A total of 20 prosecution witnesses and one witness from the defence testified in the trial that began on Nov 7, 2017.
Nor Mizan was charged with lending support to Daesh via the ‘Gagak Hitam’ group on the Telegram text messaging application, using ‘mrzack786’ as his identify.
He was accused of committing the offence, under Section 130J(1) (a) of the Penal Code which provides for a life sentence or up to 30 years in jail, or a fine, at the Laksamana Jaya Apartment in Batu Caves, Gombak, Selangor, between March 30 and April 2, 2016.
Nor Mizan was also charged with indirectly handling the assets of terrorists, namely one Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, by depositing RM70 and RM20 cash into the Maybank accounts of two other individuals for the benefit of the terrorists involved.
The accused was charged with committing the offence at Maybank cash deposit machine at Ground Floor, Menara Hup Seng, Jalan P. Ramlee, here between February 1, 2016 and April 4, 2016.
For that offence, Nor Mizan was charged under Section 130Q(1) of the Penal Code which carries a jail penalty up to 20 years and the confiscation of assets used or meant to be used in committing the offence.
Nor Mizan was also charged under Section 130JB(1) of the Penal Code with possessing 21 video clips and 10 still images relating to the terror group in his mobile phone at the same address at 7.20pm on July 15, 2016.
Earlier, in mitigation, lawyer Syahredzan Johan, who represented the accused, urged the court for the minimum sentence on the grounds that his client was supporting his wife, his 67-year-old mother, and two children from his first marriage.
Deputy public prosecutor Azlina Rasdi, however, asked for a sentence that reflected the seriousness of the offence.
“The testimonies (during trial) show that if left unchecked, the accused’s actions can lead to grave and consequential actions such as migrating to participate in terrorism activities.
“The Court must also take into consideration public interest and also judicial notice on the increase of similar cases like this. A heavy sentence must be meted out as a precedent for society not to choose this path,” she said. - Bernama
