Mahkamah tangguh keputusan rayuan hina mahkamah Wan Azri

Mahkamah Tinggi in Malaysia has sentenced blogger Wan Azri Wan Deris to a 30-day prison term for insulting the court following his request for forgiveness to former Chief of Police Razarudin Husain. In response, the Court of Appeal has postponed its decision on Wan Azri's appeal regarding the fine and 30-day imprisonment for insulting the court, pending further proceedings on October 29th.

The court hearing will be chaired by Judges Azizul Azmi Adnan, Ong Chee Kwan, and Radzi Harun. The attorney for Wan Azri, Rafique Rashid Ali, claimed that Wan Azri complied with the court's orders when he read the petition for forgiveness multiple times on various social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, X, and Telegram within a span of seven days.

Rafique also stated that Wan Azri paid a RM5,000 fine and that the petition for forgiveness was widely disseminated across multiple media outlets. "Our objective is to ensure he does not insult the court," stated Rafique, assisted by Amirul Ar Rasyid Azam. However, attorney Raam Kumar, representing Razarudin, requested the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the earlier contempt orders issued by the High Court on August 27, 2025.

He argued that Wan Azri failed to comply with the sincere petition for forgiveness and the promises made to the court. According to Raam, the forgiveness video was nearly unreadable due to fast-moving text, and a follow-up video denied that Wan Azri had apologized to Razarudin. Raam also claimed that Wan Azri failed to prove that his social media account was hacked and did not demonstrate any remorse.

Both attorneys, along with assistants KB Tan and Norleena Jamal, argued that the prison sentence was justified and there was no need for the Court of Appeal to intervene. They added that the court also has the power to increase the sentence under Section 69(4) of the Courts of Justice Act 1964, even without a counter-appeal due to the nature of the offense.

On August 27 of last year, High Court judge Gan Techiong sentenced Wan Azri to 15 days in prison for failing to follow the court's forgiveness order and an additional 15 days for a subsequent video mocking his lack of remorse. Both sentences were ordered to run consecutively. Gan Techiong stated that the forgiveness video posted on April 30 with P Ramlee's song "Maafkan Kami" could not be accepted as it made the apology look like entertainment.

Razarudin filed a defamation suit against Wan Azri for RM3 million on December 27, 2024, alleging that Wan Azri's statement was insulting and that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. On January 10, 2025, Razarudin obtained an injunction barring Wan Azri and his representatives from publishing or disseminating any defamatory statements about him on social media until the suit was resolved.

The High Court subsequently allowed the application to commence contempt proceedings related to the injunction breach. On April 30, just before the contempt hearing started, Wan Azri read a statement expressing regret without conditions, referring to Razarudin as an insult in a social media post on January 14, as well as posting a doctored image of a former Deputy Prime Minister shortly thereafter.

He also promised to read the petition for forgiveness on four social media platforms and maintain it for at least seven days.