High Court: Sentence in Syed Saddiq's criminal case, which includes two strokes of the cane, not excessive
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): The sentence against Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in his criminal case was not excessive, partly because as a lawmaker and an "idol" for youngsters, he should be held to a "higher standard", said the judge who convicted the young MP for misappropriation of party funds.
High Court judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said this in his 22-page full grounds of judgement released late on Thursday evening.
He said that Syed Saddiq's role as a public figure, a lawmaker, and an idol for youngsters was taken into account when handing out the sentence.
"As a Member of Parliament and an idol for young people, it is appropriate that the accused is held to a higher standard and set a good example," Azhar said.
These were part of the more conclusive reasoning for Azhar's decision on Nov 9, 2023, where he found the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) co-founder guilty of all four charges involving misappropriation of more than RM1 million belonging to Armada, the youth wing of his former party Bersatu.
Syed Saddiq was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison, two strokes of the cane, and a fine of RM10 million. The 30 year-old is appealing against the decision.
It is believed that Syed Saddiq is the first MP in Malaysia under 50 years old to be sentenced with whipping after being convicted of a white-collar crime.
Malaysian law only allows whipping for male convicts aged below 50 years old.
It has to be noted that the 22-page full grounds come one year after the decision was delivered.
Azhar also added that the public interest element was another factor taken into consideration when giving out the sentence, as the court takes a stern approach to the corruption cases germinating nowadays.
"This court [also takes] judicial notice of the frequency of cases of breach of trust and misappropriation of property brought to the court these days. Therefore, a clear and firm reminder needs to be given to the public that the court views this matter seriously," he said.
The judge added that given Syed Saddiq's age, he had ample time to reflect, repent, and learn from the mistakes in this criminal case.
Syed Saddiq 'breached party constitution'
The former youth and sports minister faced four charges in total — one charge of abetting Rafiq Hakim Razali, a former assistant treasurer of Armada, in committing criminal breach of trust (CBT), one charge of misappropriation of party funds, and two money-laundering charges.
For the first charge, the politician was accused of abetting Rafiq to commit CBT of RM1 million in funds belonging to the youth wing of Bersatu in March 2020.
Among others, Azhar found that Syed Saddiq had breached the party constitution, which required that any expenditure and withdrawal of funds exceeding RM500,000 to first gain approval of Bersatu's Supreme Council.
The judge also found that Syed Saddiq's actions of not keeping the monies in a safe place — such as at party offices — reflected bad faith.
During the trial, the young politician had consistently maintained that he acted in line with the party's regulations, as his actions were in line with
achieving Bersatu's goal to safeguard the people's welfare.
The monies, he said, were strictly used for party purposes, namely Covid-19 assistance, and Ramadan and Hari Raya programmes.
The decision to withdraw the monies, Syed Saddiq said, was a collective decision of Armada’s top leaders called the G5, adding that they held a joint discussion in early March 2020 for the need to withdraw the monies for preparations to face the Covid-19 outbreak, and the Hari Raya celebrations around the corner.
Judge questions need to transfer funds to personal account
As for the second charge, Syed Saddiq was charged with misusing RM120,000 of party contributions belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) — a company set up to generate income for the party's youth wing through merchandise sales — in April 2018.
The two money-laundering charges originated from the second charge. The charges involved two transactions of RM50,000 each in June 2018.
Azhar agreed that the funds were meant for Syed Saddiq’s personal election campaign, as pleaded by the politician during the trial.
However, the judge questioned the need to transfer the funds to Syed Saddiq's personal account, when any payment to fund the election campaign could be paid directly from ABBE's account.
Syed Saddiq has maintained that the funds transferred to his account were reimbursement for monies he had already spent on his campaign.
A stay of execution of the High Court's decision was granted, pending the disposal of Syed Saddiq's appeal. He also remains the Muar MP until the appeal process is exhausted.
With the release of the full grounds of judgement, Syed Saddiq’s lawyers can now proceed to prepare for their appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Read also:
Record of appeal in Syed Saddiq's graft case still pending, will drag on to 2025
Syed Saddiq found guilty of all four charges in criminal trial involving misappropriation of Bersatu funds
Syed Saddiq sentenced to seven years in prison, two strokes of the rotan, RM10m fine in criminal case of misappropriating Bersatu funds
Syed Saddiq: In politics, one needs to be whiter than white, court best avenue to clear my name
Syed Saddiq still Muar MP until appeal process over, says Dewan Rakyat Speaker
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