PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here today upheld the two-year jail sentence of a woman who pleaded guilty to attempting to give support to a member of the so-called IS militant group by marrying him.
A three-member panel led by Justice Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki unanimously dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to enhance Ummi Kalsom Bahak’s jail sentence.
Mohtarudin said the High Court judge did not make any error when sentencing the 26-year-old former assistant credit officer to two years’ jail as it was within the judge’s jurisdiction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurshafini Mustafha argued that the jail sentence imposed on Ummi Kalsom was manifestly inadequate because the sentence did not reflect the seriousness of the offence.
She said the court should give a deterrent sentence of not less than seven years to deter not only Ummi Kalsom, but other individuals from committing the offence.
Nurshafini said the offence of giving support to IS had been widespread in the past recent months.
She also said Ummi Kalsom’s case was the first of such cases to be brought to the Court of Appeal.
However, Ummi Kalsom’s counsel Datuk Hanif Hassan said the fact that the High Court judge chose to sentence his client to jail instead of imposing a fine on her showed that the High Court judge had taken into consideration the seriousness of the offence.
He said the two-year jail term was adequate as the facts of the case showed that she attempted to go Syria to marry and there was no incriminating items found on her.
On March 31, this year, Judge Kamardin Hashim sentenced Ummi Kalsom to two year’s jail after she pleaded guilty to attempting to give support to the IS by trying to enter Syria via the Brunei-Istanbul route AirAsia flight at the KL International Airport (KLIA 2) to marry Aqif Huessin Rahizat, a IS member.
She committed the offence at the Immigration counter of the International Departure Hall, KLIA 2, at 5.20 am on Oct 5, 2014.
The High Court ordered Ummi Kalsom to serve her jail sentence beginning from the date of her arrest on Oct 5, 2014. -- Bernama