KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today upheld PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli’s 18-month in jail sentence for exposing the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) audit report last year.
Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, however, acquitted and discharged the Pandan member of parliament on his conviction for possessing the report, which he acquired in violation of the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).
Azman, in meted out his judgment, said the 18-month imprisonment is a just sentence as the maximum sentence for the offence is seven years.
The court also allowed Rafizi’s counsel Gobin Singh Deo's application for a stay of execution on the jail sentence, pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas prosecuted.
On November last year, the Sessions Court sentenced Rafizi to a total of 36 months in jail over two charges of possessing and leaking the classified 1MDB audit report.
He was charged with possessing Page 98 of the report, without approval, at the parliament lobby in Jalan Parliament at 3pm on March 24 last year.
He was also accused of exposing, without approval, the contents of the page at a press conference on March 28.
The offences fall under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) which carries a maximum jail term of seven years, upon conviction.
Judge Zulqarnian Hassan said the accused had failed to raise doubt in his unsworn evidence, which he gave when he was ordered to enter a defence on both charges.
Zulqarnian had ordered Rafizi to serve the two 18-month sentences concurrently.