Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Sedition (includes mockery of authority/king/monarchy, etc)" |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2011 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Malaysia |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Kuala Lumpur |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei was wrongly convicted of sedition for publishing an online in February 2011 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Mat Shafiei was convicted following a bench in the Shah Alam Sessions Court. On February 23, 2016 Malaysia's High Court affirmed Shafiei's conviction, rejecting his argument that Section 3 of the Sedition Act read together with Section 4 was in violation or inconsistent with a citizens right to freedom of speech and expression. In a precedent setting ruling, on Nov. 25, 2017 the Court of Appeal set-aside Shafiei's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis ruled that Section 3(3) of the Sedition Act of 1948, which allows for a conviction once it is proved that the defendant made a seditious statement, was unconstitutional, and that the prosecution must prove intent when filing a charge in a sedition case. The appeals court's ruling transformed sedition under the statute from being a strict liability offense in which the prosecution only to prove an offending statement was made, to one in which the prosecutors had to prove the defendant intended to promote sedition." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"In a precedent setting ruling, on Nov. 25, 2017 the Court of Appeal set-aside Shafiei's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis ruled that Section 3(3) of the Sedition Act of 1948, which allows for a conviction once it is proved that the defendant made a seditious statement, was unconstitutional, and that the prosecution must prove intent when filing a charge in a sedition case. The appeals court's ruling transformed sedition under the statute from being a strict liability offense in which the prosecution only to prove an offending statement was made, to one in which the prosecutors had to prove the defendant intended to promote sedition." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Court of Appeal rules Section 3(3) of Sedition Act invalid, The Star (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), November 26, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/11/26/intent-must-be-proven-court-of-appeal-rules-section-33-of-sedition-act-invalid/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org