Kuala Lumpur: Former student activist Wong Yan Ke was found guilty by the magistrates’ court of insulting a university vice-chancellor by staging a protest during a convocation ceremony in 2019.
In her verdict, magistrate Illi Marisqa Khalizan said Wong failed to establish a reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case.
Wong was fined RM5,000, but will have to serve three months’ jail if he fails to pay the fine.
The former Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president was accused of humiliating vice-chancellor Abdul Rahim Hashim and the attendees knowing he would incite their anger.
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In delivering her ruling, the magistrate said the court could not agree with the reasoning given by Wong that he had no other means to voice his views.
“The court is of the view that there are numerous options the accused could have used before resorting to this method.
“His reasoning could not justify his act nor raise a reasonable doubt (on the prosecution’s case),” she said.
Before the magistrate delivered the sentence, the court heard from deputy public prosecutor Noor Haslinda Che Saman who called for the punishment to serve as a lesson to the accused and to send a message to the public not to commit such rude behaviour in a formal ceremony.
Meanwhile, Wong’s counsel Chong Kar Yan said the accused would pay the fine and file a notice of appeal at the High Court today.
Wong, who graduated with a degree in civil engineering, was charged in February 2020.
Last week, Wong, now a coordinator at Suara Rakyat Malaysia, was also granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for disobeying a police order to stop recording a raid at his house in 2020.
It came after the prosecution failed to present any of its five witnesses in the magistrates’ court.
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