THE Court of Appeal has overturned the sedition conviction of activist Adam Adli Abd Halim, citing a “misdirection of law” under the Sedition Act 1948.

In a unanimous decision, Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh, leading a three-judge bench comprising of Kamardin Hashim and Abdul Rahman Sebli, ruled that Adam Adli should be set free on technical grounds.

“In our view, there is a misdirection of the law… when he was charged and the judge found that the defendant was convicted under Section 3(1)(a) of the Sedition Act, Section 3(1)(c) and Section 3(1)(d) but he didn’t touch on Section 3(1)(b), for which he was charged,” said Zawawi.

“And in our opinion… the sections have no connection with the speech given by the defendant. Those sections pertain to (seditious comments made against) the judiciary, the rulers.

“The misdirection of law renders the decision of the sessions and high court untenable,” Zawawi said.

Adam Adli, 29, was to be fined RM5,000 for making seditious remarks calling for the toppling of the government a week after the 2013 general election.

He was found guilty by the sessions court on September 19, 2014 and was sentenced to 12 months’ jail.

The high court which upheld the conviction on February 18, 2016, however substituted the jail term with a fine of RM5,000.

The government had cross-appealed to enhance the sentence from the fine of RM,5000 or three years’ jail or both, the maximum limits for a first offender.

Today, the courtroom broke into applause when the decision was announced.

Adam Adli, who was accompanied by his 27-year-old wife and six-month old son, was later met outside with more applause and shouts of “Hidup Rakyat” from over a dozen supporters who wore yellow arm bands.

A teary-eyed Adam Adli told reporters: “The most important thing I would like to pass on to my friends who are facing similar cases – never give up.”

“Don’t give in. And never surrender, even if the outcome is far from certain. Because the fight itself is a victory.”

Adam Adli, a former student from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, thanked his legal team, his family as well as supporters during his five year legal battle: “Today’s victory is for all those who have been victimised by this law.”

“The Sedition Act is something which we must stand up against. It is a law that unfairly silences the people,” said Adam, who currently works as a youth corp coordinator with the Penang government.

Adam Adli’s lead counsel Gurdial Singh Nijar said today’s decision “struck a right balance” between the preservation of the freedom of speech and the protection of order against insurrection.

“Speeches were made with serious tones and language but the rakyat is entitled to speak as they want to, which was to bring about change. That cannot be made into criminal act… it would insulate the government in power from any form of criticism.

“Today is a very important decision. Because sedition a very serious offence and the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers should be very careful when they are charging people under this very, very serious offence which results in imprisonment.”

Adam Adli was also represented by Eric Paulsen, Lim Wei Jiet and Abraham Au Tian Hui.

The government was represented by deputy public prosecutors Faizah Mohd Salleh and Muhammad Azmi Mashud.

Adam Adli was accused of making the seditious statement on May 13, 2013 at a forum in the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, urging the toppling of the Umno and BN government.

“We can’t wait five years to topple Umno and BN. Five more years, it is 2018, I can’t wait until 2018.

“In 2013, we shall topple Umno and BN together and boot them out of Putrajaya,” he reportedly said according to the transcript in his charge sheet filed at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on June 24, 2014.

The statement was made eight days after the 13th general election was held on May 5 that year.

Earlier, during submissions by the government and Adam Adli, Gurdial argued that the trial judge was not right in calling for the defence to be charged under Section 3(1)(b) of the Sedition Act and convicting him on all the paragraphs of the Section 3(1) except that set out in paragraph b.

He further argued that the lower courts have based its judgement on the fact that the objective of the forum was to overthrow the government by unlawful means, when there was no evidence.

Gurdial said Adam made his remarks due to “dissatisfaction” as the popular vote was not with the ruling government.

“Emotive words were used in to reflect the mood of dissatisfaction. It is not sedition. Sedition is one step below treason, we have to be careful.

“We cannot criminalise the use of language to something that is one step below treason.

“So they were dissatisfied la,” Zawawi said. “BN did not win in Peninsular Malaysia. The opposition won in Peninsular, but Sabah and Sarawak are also part of Malaysia.”

Gurdial said: “If you take in the context as well as the ceremony, an inference can be made that the comment was not meant to be seditious. Asking the people to go to the streets to protest does not necessarily mean they broke the law.

“Young people like excitement. Young people use this kind of language, which is histrionical. To criminalise their dissatisfaction is not right. We have to draw a balance between words of exuberance and words of design.”

During Faizah’s submission, Zawawi said he did not find evidence in Adam Adli’s remarks that had directed people to carry out illegal activities, but had instead asked protestors to buy “jeans and shoes” to protest the election results.

“Seize power you said? How?”

“He wanted to be Martin Luther King Jr, his speech was like ‘I have a dream’. Maybe he played a bigger role than he should have,” Zawawi said to laughter.

Faizah said Adam Adli’s words were used with seditious intent, including a call to overthrow the government with kuasa rakyat (people’s power).

“This guy will overthrow the government?” Zawawi said, pointing to Adam Adli who was seated in the dock.

“We have gone through various emergencies. We are the only ones in the world to have defeated the communists. This country is not fragile. We won’t let it collapse by illegal means.” – February 22, 2018.