Indonesian jailed 34 months for possessing Daesh photos

KUALA LUMPUR: An Indonesian duck breeder was sentenced to 30 months' jail for possessing two photographs of the Daesh terrorist group.

Eq Maulana Dunda, 25, who had just arrived in Malaysia a few months ago after marrying a local woman, was sentenced to jail by High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court ordered that the jail sentence commence from the date he was arrested on July 12.

Eq Maulana was charged with possessing in his handphone two photograph images connected to the Daesh terrorist group or had elements of terrorist activity, at a house with the address CB014, Cempaka B, Taman Sri Kolam 20000, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, at 11.15 a.m. on July 12.

He was charged under Section 130JB(1)(a) of the Penal Code (Act 574) which provides for a jail sentence of up to seven years or fine, while his items could be confiscated.

In his appeal, the accused who was not represented by counsel, said he obtained the photographs from Google on the Internet and had them for a long time, and was not aware that keeping such photographs was a criminal offence.

“I regret it. I have kept them (the photographs) for a long time, when I was in Indonesia. I did not know. I plead for a light sentence…. my wife is pregnant,” he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Munirah Shamsudin @ Baharum urged that the accused be imposed a commensurate jail sentence considering the fact that terrorism was a crossborder crime involving an international network, so that it would be a lesson to the accused and the public.

Shafee gets temporary custody of his passport

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday allowed the application by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who faces two charges of money laundering and another two for committing offences under the Income Tax Act, for temporary custody of his passport which had been handed over to the court.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah granted Muhammad Shafee, 66, temporary custody of the travel document after his lawyer, Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed informed that his client needed to go to Sabah to handle a criminal case at the High Court in Tawau.

“We had asked for temporary release of the passport (before this). He (Muhammad Shafee) has to handle a case in Sabah and needs a work pass,” he said during case management where Muhammad Shafee was not present.

Wan Aizuddin applied for the release of the passport from today until disposal of the case in January, next year.

Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz did not object to the lawyer's application.